Harry Potter: Air Elemental
by kb0
Summary: After his adventure in the Department of Mysteries, Harry finds a new power over air which gives him confidence. He's "live and let live" until you come after him, then watch out. This starts just after the revelation of the prophecy at the end of book5.
1. Discoveries

**Title:** Harry Potter: Air Elemental

 **Rating:** PG-15, for violence and a few non-explicit adult situations

 **Pairing:** Harry/SusanB (if pairing matters)

 **Summary:** After his adventure in the Department of Mysteries, Harry finds a new power over air which gives him confidence. He's "live and let live" until you come after him, then watch out. This starts just after the revelation of the prophecy at the end of book5.

(A/N: I'm back after over a year off. It's been a busy one for me, but I've been slowly working on this and kicking a few other stories around. In the process, I've met the infamous Kokopelli (from fanficauthors-dot-net) and he has agreed to beta this story for me, so let's give him a big warm welcome!

A few facts about the story… If the pairing matters to you, please note this is a Harry/SusanBones story and if you don't like that, please stop reading now. From what I can tell from the books, Susan may (and probably does) have more family than just her Aunt Amelia and that is so in this story. I don't like wimpy!Harry, so he's going to get some "help" in this story, but that help isn't always going to be useful. You can consider everything in the books up to the start of this story as true; beyond that, don't assume anything is the same as the book unless I state it. I've finished the first draft of this story and you're looking at 19 chapters and about 200K-words. Lastly, this story starts immediately after "the big reveal" in the Headmaster's office at the end of book5.

As long as life doesn't become too crazy for me and for Kokopelli, I'll post a new chapter every weekend. Enjoy! Kevin)

(Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to someone commonly known as JKR and probably several corporations. I am not her nor am I them. This is done for fun and no money will be made from it. If it looks like JKR's, she can have it. The remaining original stuff is mine.)

 **Harry Potter: Air Elemental**

 **Chapter 1 – Discoveries**

Harry stumbled down the stairs from the Headmaster's office, almost tripping and falling twice. He was glad it was still very early in the morning; most students wouldn't even be getting up for an hour or more. He also felt fortunate that a bathroom was nearby, as his stomach was cramping.

Forcing his feet to keep moving, he stumbled into the bathroom not far from the Headmaster's office and fell back against the door, breathing heavily. He had enough presence of mind to pull his wand out and mumble a locking spell on the door so he wouldn't be disturbed, at least not easily. With lurching steps, he arrived at the first sink just as his stomach finally rebelled. Not much came up as he had nothing in his stomach to begin with.

Splashing some water on his face when he was able helped, as did consciously trying to slow his breathing down and take few sips of water from the faucet. Unfortunately, he had nothing for his pounding headache and he wasn't sure if he could make it to Madam Pomfrey's domain at the moment.

Looking in the mirror showed him a face he barely recognized. His hair was far messier than usual, he looked very pale, and the scar on his forehead looked angry red. He realized that his headache was probably caused by the scar. Not sure what else to do, he fished around in his pocket and found a handkerchief he rarely used but usually carried because he'd always been told to carry it. After wetting it he leaned against the nearby wall and slid down so he could sit on the floor. Holding the cool damp cloth to his forehead helped him some; it wasn't as much as he would have liked, but the relief it gave him was very welcome.

However, the slight respite allowed the memories of what caused his distress to return full force, making him want to lash out, much as he'd done all year, but more so at the moment. The anguish of losing his godfather was almost unbearable. He'd spent so little time with the man, and what little time he'd had available had been reduced further by a few adults who had seemed determined to keep him away from Sirius last summer. He was not feeling charitable towards adults in general and Molly Weasley in particular.

The other big problem he had at the moment was the Headmaster - Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore. The old man had the audacity to choose tonight (or really early morning) just after his godfather's death to tell him that there was a prophecy that little Harry Potter had to fight Voldemort to the death one day … kill or be killed … and Voldemort had fifty years more experience. If that wasn't enough, the old man had admitted that he knew Harry would have ten dark and difficult years at the Dursleys, but had placed Harry there anyway. And to make it worse, the old man kept sending him back there every summer and insisted on him returning there again this summer.

Harry used his wand to put a cooling charm on the damp cloth and put it back on his forehead again, covering his eyes this time and hoping he'd feel better soon.

It had taken all of his control to not completely destroy the man's office earlier. He felt a little guilty for what destruction he had caused, but not enough to apologize, especially considering the old man had essentially given him permission. Even now, he really wanted to break more things.

He felt a breeze hit his face, making him blink. A little whirlwind had stirred up next to him, lifting motes of dust into the air. He watched the air swirl for several minutes; it was oddly soothing.

Not sure why he even tried it, Harry reached out tentatively with one hand and tried to direct the wind and make it go a little faster. He was shocked when it obeyed his unspoken desire. Continuing to reach out, Harry thought about it slowing down, but it didn't. With furrowed brow, he pushed his hand out further and thought very hard, `STOP!`. The wind stopped completely, allowing the little bits of paper to flutter to the floor.

"I guess I have to really mean it," he mumbled.

Harry started to try something else when he realized that he was beyond tired and into exhaustion. Closing his eyes and thinking, he realized he'd been awake for nearly twenty-four hours, which suddenly seemed like a great reason to be tired. As he considered trying to get back to his dorm room, he realized his head didn't hurt as much now, for which he was thankful, so he decided to skip going to see the school nurse.

Forcing himself up, he walked to the door and then frowned when it wouldn't open. After a moment, he snorted as he finally remembered locking it. With a spell, he unlocked the door and went on his way, one hand on the wall to steady himself and his wand in the other hand - just because.

No one had passed him until he made it to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. A few of the younger students looked at him strangely as they passed and then continued on their way, obviously off to breakfast. He was sure he was quite the sight after his battles earlier today. Stepping through the already open portrait, he received a few more looks, but he ignored them and continued on to his dorm room.

"Harry, what happened to you?" Dean asked. "There's been rumors about you and Umbridge."

"And where's Ron and Neville?" Seamus added.

"Long story and I'm too tired to tell it," he replied as he kicked his shoes off. "I _think_ Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna are in the hospital wing. They'll be back soon, I hope." He grabbed a clean pair of boxers before peeling off his shirt as he passed them and headed to the showers. He really wanted to fall into bed, but felt so dirty.

After a very quick shower, he returned to his bed wearing only his boxers and found the dorm room empty, which was just as well. Pulling the curtains closed over the windows and the ones around his bed, he climbed in and promptly went to sleep; his new found affinity for dust blowing completely forgotten.

* * *

When Harry awoke, it was completely dark and he could hear loud breathing sounds … but not snores, just loud breathing. That let him know it was night and that Ron wasn't back.

Quietly, he found his dressing gown and slippers, putting them on as he left his dorm room. Downstairs in the empty common room, the clock showed it to be a little after one. That meant he'd slept for about sixteen hours. Tossing a few small logs into the fireplace to help ward off the night chill of the cold stone of the castle, he sat in a chair in front of the fireplace and stared, finding comfort in the mesmerizing flames.

Harry did his best to think back over the last day or so, analyzing what happened. It was somewhat surprising how easy it was to see where he'd made mistakes, as well as other's mistakes, and information that he'd learned far too late. Some of his conclusions surprised him, but he attributed his clearer thinking to not being "in the heat of battle" as well as it being afterward with all the facts now in hand.

After considering last night, skipping the part about losing Sirius, he considered what had happened in the bathroom. Had he been dreaming? Looking around, all he could see that was small was a pillow on the sofa - the elves had already cleaned it seemed.

Grabbing the pillow, he held it in both of his hands, palms up. Thinking intently about making the pillow float, he felt a small gust of breeze flow around his hands and the pillow went up unsteadily a few inches and hung in mid-air. Slowly, Harry moved his hands away and the pillow stayed suspended, causing him to grin at the possibilities this presented. Just as quickly, the thought that this was "the power He knows not" sprung into his head, causing him to forget about the pillow floating, which caused said pillow to fall into his lap. He harrumphed to himself that the power didn't do much and wasn't controlled easily.

While not tired, Harry didn't feel as rested as before with that last thought, so he rose and returned to bed. Sleep took some time to come again as memories of his lost godfather floated through his mind.

* * *

The day before the train was to take them home, Harry sat against a tree and looked out over the lake. He was using his new-found power to whip up little waves, playing with the squid. Apparently the large animal liked playing in the waves Harry was creating. He found his control was becoming a little better, at least as long as he concentrated on what he wanted. Unfortunately, making little waves was about the best he could do at the moment .

He also had his wand out, just in case Malfoy came by to bother him or to cover himself so it looked like he was using his wand to make the waves. He was glad he had thought of that earlier when Hermione walked up to him.

"May I join you?" she asked tentatively.

"You're back!" he told her enthusiastically as he jumped up and gave her a hug, which made her flinch. Her hug was different, almost fragile. "Are you all right? When did you return?" he asked as he wondered about her behavior; that was unlike her normal reaction.

She sat on the ground with him and looked at the lake. "I'm fine now. St Mungo's let me go about an hour ago and it took me a while to find you."

"Neville, Ginny, and Luna are fine now. Since I don't see Ron with you, is he still at St Mungo's?" he asked with concern since their fight had been almost a week ago.

Hermione looked down at the ground for a moment before nodding. "He won't be going home until a few days from now, or so they hope." With even more concern, she looked up at him. "Those brain things really hurt him, Harry. They do think he'll get better though."

Harry blew out his breath and looked at the lake for a long moment as he thought about that and about what to say. "I'm really sorry you were hurt. I'm glad all of you came with me because I wouldn't have made it out otherwise, but I also did try to make you stay."

"I know," she agreed, "but it's not your fault. It's never been this bad before either, but I'd do it again to save you and I think the others would too. You're our friend, Harry."

"Thanks," he told her quietly, grateful for her accepting his apology, as other three had too. "I guess I'll have to tell Ron that in a letter."

"I think he'd like that, to hear from you I mean," she told him.

Slowly and hesitantly, she moved over the short distance between them and leaned her shoulder on his. Harry put his arm around her shoulders as she asked quietly, "If this year was this bad, what's next year going to be like? I'm scared, Harry."

"I don't know," he told her honestly, "but I'll find a way to protect you and keep you safe, all of you."

"Where's safe, Harry?" she asked in a little voice, one that tore at Harry.

"I don't know, but I'm going to try very hard," he promised solemnly.

* * *

"Are you all right?" Harry asked Hermione again as the train started slowing for Kings Cross Station. He'd noticed that she'd been staying near him since she'd returned yesterday. She was sitting next to him now.

She gave him one of her patented "get real" looks before she told him, "Of course. In fact, I'm glad to be returning home."

"I wasn't referring to going home, but if you're fine…" he let it hang, noticing that Neville looked a little worried about her too. Luna was, well, she was Luna. It was strange not to have Ron on the train.

"I'm fine," she insisted, adding a little huff at the end and looked like she was having to resist rolling her eyes.

When the train stopped and they disembarked, Harry noticed that despite her statement Hermione made an effort to stay next to him as he led and she insisted that Luna follow her. He really wanted to say something again, but knew it'd be futile.

"Come say hello to my parents," she told him, making it obvious she expected him to do that.

"Fine, my arse," he muttered very quietly after he turned away from her as he scanned the crowd so she couldn't hear him.

A few minutes later, Harry said good-bye to Neville and Luna, and then Harry accompanied Hermione as she made her way to her parents. She let go of her trunk the last few steps and rushed into her mother's arms. Harry grabbed her trunk and parked it next to the Grangers, thankful they had both lightened their trunks before leaving the train.

"Mr Granger," Harry intoned as he shook the man's hand.

"You're Harry, right?"

"Right," the teen confirmed as Hermione moved to her father and gave him a crushing hug.

"Mrs Granger," Harry said with a nod.

"It's lovely to see you," she replied with a smile.

Her smile set Harry a little on edge. He really, really hoped she wasn't like Mrs Weasley in regards to seeing relationships that weren't there, or so he thought Molly Weasley was probably that way.

"I've delivered you safe and sound as requested, Hermione," he told her with a little flourish of his hand, which caused Mrs Granger's smile to increase. "Have a good summer holiday and I'll see you in September or maybe a few days before. Who knows what'll happen with me."

"You better write me," she told him in her usual bossy way as she stepped forward and gave him a tight hug.

He chuckled as he wondered about her different behavior. "I'll try, but you know how that goes."

She sighed as she let him go and stepped back. "I know." She paused for a moment as she looked over his shoulder. "What's going on over there?"

Harry turned around and stared, hardly believing what he was seeing. Hoping he was wrong, he walked over and stood behind the group only to discover they were doing exactly what he really didn't want them to do.

After the small group from the Order finished threatening his relatives, because that's what it really was, his uncle looked at him and said quietly enough Harry almost didn't hear him, "Let's go."

As his relatives walked away without really waiting for him, Harry said to Remus, who was the nearest, "I appreciate your support, I really do, but you're about fifteen years too late and you've probably just made my summer more difficult unless you plan to also move into the house." Gripping the handle of his trunk tightly, he hurried after his relatives, leaving a shocked looking Remus behind.

The car ride home was quiet, which Harry was thankful for because of no insults, but he wondered if that "threat" would make tonight worse or not. He'd have to be on best behavior and always stay aware of his surroundings for at least the next week. It was all he could do, now that the damage had been done.

That evening, he was allowed to eat, not a lot, but enough that he wouldn't starve. He also spent as much time alone as possible and they ignored him. His hope for some form of Dursley normalcy grew when he went to bed without incident.

* * *

The next morning, Harry came down and grabbed some toast and tea before everyone else was up, since it was a Sunday. After that little bit of food, he headed outside as one of the few things he enjoyed doing here was mowing the lawn and he'd noticed that the lawn did look a little shaggy.

He was in no hurry and took his time doing the work. After mowing, he edged it before putting away all the things he'd pulled out. Standing back and looking over it with a critical eye, he thought it looked pretty good. The shrubs and flowers needed some help, but that was a project for another day. He was hot and hungry so he went inside.

Dudley and his aunt were eating lunch; his uncle wasn't there so he must have left earlier. He sat down and joined them for a sandwich, getting a glare from his aunt even though she didn't say anything. Dudley grabbed the rest of the food after Harry had his first helping. Harry merely rolled his eyes as he thought about Dudley's diet from last summer apparently being over.

Still without saying a word to them, he finished his lunch and left the table. After a shower, he went to his room and made himself comfortable as he wrote Ron a letter. Besides an apology and what he'd told Hermione and his other friends, he also wrote a little of what Dumbledore had told him, especially the part about Dumbledore admitting that the mess being Dumbledore's fault for not telling him things. He'd added that because he was sure that Mrs Weasley would read the note if Ron was still in the hospital.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning out his trunk and doing laundry. He heard his uncle return home, but the man left him alone so Harry didn't worry about him.

Shortly before dinner should have been ready, Harry put the last of his clothes away and gave Ron's letter to Hedwig. It wouldn't be dusk yet for a couple more hours, but his owl left anyway. Thirsty, he went downstairs for some water. Walking into the kitchen, he saw his aunt starting dinner and standing right in front of the cabinet with the glasses. "Err, excuse me, but can I get-"

"No, you can **not** ," she cut him off harshly. "You've done very little around here since you've returned."

Harry thought that was bit much for a drink. "But I only wanted-"

"I said no!" she cut him off.

Before he realized what was happening and could step away, she had grabbed an empty pan off the stove next to her and swung it at him. Having dealt with this before, he ducked and moved behind her, except this time he also pushed her arm away. However, she was off balance and fell on the counter next to a few open cans while the pan went flying and hit her glass pitcher, making a loud glass shattering sound only a fraction of a second before she screamed bloody murder.

Harry saw the open can of tomato sauce now lying on its side on the counter with a handprint in it. His uncle came into the room at that moment and all the man saw was red blood-like liquid on his wife's hand as she screamed with Harry standing right next to her.

Vernon roared and rushed at Harry, swinging a big meaty fist. Surprised at his uncle's lack of questioning or at least a bellow, Harry was forced to duck this swing too and he pushed the bigger man hard as he went by. Because of his excitement and slight panic, Harry was only a little surprised to feel a bit of wind rush by him and help Vernon on his way across the room, where he crashed into the breakfast table, tripping and landing on a chair, which broke under his weight. Harry hoped his new ability didn't trigger any magical sensors.

"I'll kill you this time, you freak!" the big man grunted angrily as he struggled to get off the floor.

That declaration spurred Harry into motion and he made to run from the room as his aunt hurried over to her husband. Spying the cordless phone on the counter near the doorway, he grabbed it and thumbed it on as he ran into the living room and dialed the three digit emergency number. Based on past experiences, he knew without a doubt that the Order wouldn't come help him, if they were even still watching.

His call was answered immediately allowing him to hurriedly and quietly say, "Help, my relatives are trying to kill me. Number 4 Privet Drive Little Whining in Surrey." He heard a roar and footsteps from the direction of the kitchen as someone on the other end tried to say something. Harry just put the phone down on top of the coffee table without turning it off, speaker up, as he considered his options and determined the front door was his best bet.

"Come here you little freak! I swear I'll beat it all out of you this time!" Vernon rushed into the room heading for the front door, cutting Harry off from escape. "You can't run away now, freak!"

Turning for the kitchen and the backdoor, he saw his aunt there with her pan again. The way to the stairs was clear, Harry saw, but he didn't want to get trapped with no way out of the house. At least here, if he got one of them away from a door, he could get out of this insanity.

The three of them danced around the living room with Harry doing his best to keep the coffee table between him and them. Vernon rushed him and Harry just jumped over the low table and ran for the front door.

"Stand still you freak so you can get the beating you deserve!"

Harry managed to get the front door unlocked, but he didn't have time to open the door before he had to run around the room, ducking blows his aunt and uncle were aiming at him. The small room meant that his uncle got closer than expected and eventually a blow landed when his fist clipped Harry's cheek. While he had avoided most of the blow, it sent him towards the TV, crashing into the wall next to the appliance. The same wall that held all of the family photos.

He couldn't help the "Ah!" as he hit the plaster, nor when he was "attacked" by the framed photos that fell on him. One frame hit him on the top of his forehead causing another yelp; thankfully it hadn't knocked his glasses off.

"I've got you now!" the man yelled as he rushed at Harry. "I even know where to bury your body."

Having to choose the lesser of evils, Harry waited until the last moment and ducked his uncle's swing and ran towards his aunt, letting the man crash into the wall - loudly.

His aunt was ready for him and swung again. He ducked and the pan missed him, but he felt something on her hand hit his cheek which caused him to yelp again. He assumed it was the ring on her hand.

Vernon recovered and ran back to cover the front door as Harry turned for it again. "If you thought your punishments were bad before, boy, you'll be surprised at what I do to you this time. I'm so going to enjoy this, then I'll let Dudley use you for a punching bag, and your freaky friends won't do a thing about it because this is my house."

Harry would have loved to have had something witty to say, but he was too busy calculating his way out. Searching for some other answer than going upstairs, he came up empty. Maybe he could barricade the door to his room if he went up; neither of them could run as fast as he could.

Just as Harry was about to run for the stairs, he heard a siren in the distance. Apparently his relatives did too, because they both looked at him with suspicion and loathing.

"Get under the stairs, now!" his aunt yelled at him. "Get in there and be quiet if you know what's good for you!"

"No!" Harry yelled back, emboldened by the thought of real help coming. "No more! I'm tired of you starving me and hitting me and treating me like a slave just because you didn't like my parents." At his aunt's gasp, he smirked evilly at her. "What, you thought I'd never figured out that you hate me because you first hated my mother - your own sister?"

He wished he could just use the wind to defend himself, but he didn't trust that yet as he didn't have enough control. He thought that with his luck, he was likely to bring the house down on himself.

The siren suddenly stopped and it was obvious they weren't in front of the house; that caused Vernon to give his own evil smirk. "See Freak, they aren't coming to save you, so I'm going to beat the crap out of you, again, if you're lucky." He rushed Harry, who had to jump over the coffee table again, but Vernon was ready for him this time and swung a fist, which hit Harry in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him, as well as causing him to fall in all the glass and wreckage of the broken pictures on the floor. He let out a loud cry as he felt stabbing paining in his forearms which took the brunt of his fall.

As Vernon got up off from where he'd fallen to his knees, the front door was kicked open with a loud crash and a big burly police officer yelled, "Nobody move!" as he strode in with his baton out. His partner also came in with baton out.

Harry laid his head gently back down on the floor, resting it on a picture frame, thankful for the help. The look of surprise on his aunt's face as she was caught with the frying pan in her hand was priceless, as was his uncle's look at being caught.

"Drop the pan, lady!" the smaller of the two officers yelled at his aunt, who dropped the cookware with a whimper.

"Now see here," Vernon blustered, "you can't come crashing in here!"

"You don't realize what you've done?" the second officer said as he stood protectively by Harry, who just laid there to catch his breath.

"What? He's had worse and still worked the day," Vernon answered with indignation.

However, that answer infuriated the first officer. "Turn around and get down on your knees. I'm taking you in."

"You can't do that!" Vernon yelled.

"Stay where you are!" the second officer yelled at his aunt and pointed his baton at her, as she'd started trying to slink back into the kitchen.

"I refuse to let you or anyone else intimidate me in my own home," Vernon growled.

"I said turn around and get down on your knees," the big officer yelled and looked furious at being ignored.

Vernon took one step towards the officer and raised his hand. Harry wasn't sure what Vernon was trying to do, but the officer took that as a threatening gesture and grabbed the arm, then pulled and twisted it. He was big and strong enough to move Vernon, who stumbled and fell. The officer deftly moved and pushed, helping Vernon to fall harder and all the way down. The officer ended up with a knee on Vernon's back causing the man to yell in anger. The officer whipped out a pair of cuffs and after a moment had them on Vernon.

With Vernon secure, the officer stood and looked around, his gaze ending on his partner. "Where's the phone?"

As they looked, Harry said, "I think it's on the floor by the end of the couch."

The second officer found it and picked it up and handed his cuffs to the taller officer. Speaking into the phone he said, "This is Officer Malone and we've got the situation under control." He gave a disparaging look at Vernon, who was grunting insults at them. "Send an ambulance, one of the large wagons, a female officer, and alert Social Services … right, that will work … thanks." He ended the call and put the phone down.

While he had been talking on the phone, the bigger officer had used his partner's cuffs on Petunia and set her in a chair. He then knelt down by Harry. "You're safe now. Where are you hurt?"

"Arms, head," Harry answered as he took stock.

"Right. Since you're moving on your own, I'm going to help you up then you can sit in that other chair. Ready?" At Harry's nod, the man picked him up as easily as Hagrid would have and set him on his feet. "Still all right?" he asked while still holding on to Harry's upper arms where he'd picked him up.

He looked down at his forearms and saw a few cuts and a piece of glass sticking out of his left arm. He reached for it but the officer stopped him.

"If you can, let's leave that there and let a paramedic pull that out, all right? In fact, try to move that arm as little as possible." He steered Harry to the nearest chair, which happened to be Vernon's favorite.

"The freak can't sit there!"

"Shut up, tubby," the officer commanded. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

"I'll go get the camera," Malone told his partner; the larger man nodded.

"You just sit right there and I promise you'll be safe. My name is Patrick, Sargent Michael Patrick. What's your name, lad?"

"Harry, Harry Potter."

"Harry, I need to be honest with me for a moment. Have they ever done this before?"

Calling in help had seemed like such a good idea in the heat of the moment, but now, now he'd have to tell people what had been happening for years, something he'd never done if he could help it. Yet, maybe this was the way to be rid of the Dursleys once and for all. He knew Dumbledore would probably pitch a fit at this, but another siren was heard and Officer Malone came back in and started taking pictures of the place, including Harry, he thought that just maybe this would be too much for Dumbledore to cover up.

In fact, he wondered where the Order was, but decided that it didn't matter.

Looking at Officer Patrick who was waiting patiently, Harry nodded. "It's never been quite this bad before, but yeah; they swing at me all the time and usually stop after one or two hits. It hurts, but it's usually better when they get it out of their system than when they lock me in my room and don't feed me for a few days. You get used to it." He watched the two officers look at each other and then each of them took a deep breath.

"I don't think that'll be a problem anymore, Harry," the big man told him.

The siren cut off as it pulled in front of the house. Harry thought this would be giving the neighbors a good show. A look at his aunt showed her to be hanging her head as she was probably thinking something similar.

Two men came into the house with what looked like a toolbox in each hand. "What do we have?" the first one asked.

"I think mostly cuts and bruises, but you'll want to look at his arm first. I had him leave the glass in in case it cut a major artery," Patrick told him. "His name's Harry."

"Good thinking," he said as he knelt down by Harry. "Well, Harry, if you'll let me see your arm, I'll look at it while my partner looks at your head."

— — —

It took at least fifteen minutes for them to remove the glass, which did start heavy bleeding from his arm. They wrapped the arm, and cleaned the rest of the scrapes. Harry was sure he looked a mess.

"Harry," Officer Patrick called as he squatted down next to Harry's chair. "We're going to take you to a hospital so they can make sure you're not hurt anywhere else and then we'll find a safe place for you to stay, all right?"

"Sure," Harry answered.

"Can you make it to your bedroom? You should probably take your things with you; you won't be coming back, ever, if I have anything to say about it." The man looked angry. "This sort of thing isn't supposed to happen, Harry, not to you, not to anyone."

Harry stood and slowly walked to his room past his relatives. It made him wonder why he hadn't ever called for help before. Then he remembered not wanting to talk about the abuse.

"Why didn't you call someone sooner?" the officer asked as they went up the stairs. He stopped suddenly and looked angrily at Harry's door as he walked in. After a moment, he looked at the inside of the door. "These locks can only be opened only from the outside. How long have they been here?" he asked tightly.

Harry stopped putting his things on his bed for a moment and thought. "They were there when I came home from school four years ago." He went to the closet and pulled his trunk out.

"Do you have a cat or other small pet?"

Harry couldn't help his smile and looked at the cage on his desk. "A bird - she's out hunting at the moment I would assume. She'll find me when she wants to."

"What's the little flap in the door for?" the officer persisted.

"When they didn't want to see me, they'd lock me in here and give me one meal a day through there." Harry opened is trunk away from the officer and hurriedly threw his few clean clothes in there to cover his broom and other magical things. He'd already wrapped his wand that had been on his desk in a shirt. He didn't think the officer had seen it, or if he had, he didn't say anything. He closed the trunk and pushed the latch closed.

Thanks to a little help from Fred and George, the latch would not open for anyone but him, something he had done at the beginning of last year to prevent Umbridge from getting anything important of his.

"That's all I've got," Harry told them man, who nodded and grabbed the trunk for him. "Is there anything else we need to know lad, anything at all, especially evidence that shows what they did to you?"

Harry thought for a moment as they walked down the stairs with him only carrying Hedwig's cage. "Look under the stairs. It was where I slept for ten years. I don't think that's really normal."

"Indeed, it is not," the officer agreed with another scowl and a dirty look towards his aunt.

"The paramedics are going to take you to the hospital to get looked at and then a person from Social Services will meet you there, Harry." He walked Harry out to the ambulance, still carrying the trunk.

Harry looked at all the people in the street. There must have been nearly thirty. He didn't see any Order members there, or at least none that he recognized.

As he reached the back door of the ambulance, where the paramedics were waiting to help him in, Dudley came jogging up huffing and puffing.

"Hey, what's going on? What's the little freak done now?"

Officer Patrick set the trunk down hurriedly and stepped in front of Harry, his hand on the end of his baton, which Dudley didn't notice.

"Who are you?"

"What are you on about? I live here." Dudley protested.

"He is my cousin, or so I've always been told," Harry said quietly.

Sargent Patrick looked back at him. "Get in the ambulance and let them help you. I'll take care of this."

"Thank you, and tell the other one … Malone?" Getting a nod, Harry finished, "Tell him thanks too."

Harry stepped into the ambulance with a little help from a paramedic, his trunk and bird cage joining him. He saw the officer walk Dudley into the house, with his hand never far from his baton.

— — —

Harry had been waiting for bit in a room when an older woman came in.

"Are you Harry Potter?"

"Yes."

"I'm Marsha Rodgers, a counselor with Social Services." She looked him over for a moment and frowned. "I always hope this will stop happening…" She took a deep breath and then smiled at him. "I'm going to find you a safe place to stay after we leave here. I understand you were staying with your aunt and uncle. Do you have any other relatives?"

Harry shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of. Aunt Petunia was my mother's sister. Uncle Vernon has a sister, but I won't claim her since she's as bad as he is."

The woman froze. "One of my co-workers has called her to take care of Dudley. Are you saying that was a mistake?"

He shrugged. "It would be bad for me, but probably not for Dudley; she thinks Dudley is a real person. I'm … well, she said I'm someone who should have been drowned at birth."

"I see." Her frown was back.

A soft knock was given before the door opened. A light brunette woman who looked to be in her late twenties stepped in. While her hair was well controlled in a loose ponytail, Harry thought she could have been a distant cousin of Hermione based on her looks.

"I'm Doctor Alicia Dumont. I understand I need to do a physical exam and treat a few injuries?"

— — —

Doctor Dumont left with a report and Harry got dressed again, having had to strip down to his boxers. Counselor Rodgers was talking on the phone that hung on the wall. Despite her talking softly, Harry heard her talking about Dudley and his Aunt and whether that was a good place for him to go based on what Harry had said.

When Rodgers hung up, Harry cleared his throat lightly. "Err, would it be possible to get something to eat? I never had dinner."

Rodgers looked surprised but nodded. "Sure, Harry. We need to talk and we can do that while you eat."

She led him to the cafeteria in the hospital where he was allowed to get as much as he wanted. With a full tray of food for him and a tea for her, she led him to a corner that was relatively private.

While he started eating, she explained what was going on. "Harry, I need you to tell me what happened tonight, and then what else they've done to you." She placed a handheld device on the table and pushed a button. "This is a recorder and will be considered evidence in the trial against your relatives and to help us help you. Do you understand and consent to this?"

"Yes."

"All right, please state your full name and tell me about tonight and what living with your relatives was like."

Harry took a drink and cleared his throat. "My name is Harry James Potter…"

— — —

She didn't do it every week, but even Arabella Figg needed to do extra shopping sometimes. Despite the recent revelation of You-Know-Who being back - officially - she wasn't very worried. Albus assured her that the wards on Harry's house made him quite safe, so she felt comfortable leaving him there for an hour or so, especially when he should be inside having dinner. Having watched him over the years, she had some doubt about whether the house was complete safe for him and the only conclusion she could come to was that she and Dumbledore had different definitions of "safe". Still, she wasn't the only watcher.

As she walked down the street towards her house, her small cart behind her carrying groceries, a few clothes, and some cat litter, she noticed a small crowd congregating down the street where that didn't usually happen. She would go investigate too, but first she need a few minutes had to put her frozen groceries in the freezer, which caused her to miss seeing the ambulance drive away.

By the time she joined the other neighbors; she found the excitement originated from #4 Privet Drive, causing some alarm in her.

Her next door neighbor was there, so she went over. "Holly, what's going on?"

The gray-haired lady turned and her eyes lit. "Arabella, you'll never believe what happened. It seems there was a fight in the house and they just took that Potter boy away."

Arabella's insides froze. What a horrible time for this, and where was that Fletcher. Drat the man, it had to be his turn here again. "Do tell … what else happened?"

"I'm not sure, but it seems as if the police came and broke the door down to get in." The woman's voice turned to disappointment. "It was all over before anyone could get here."

A wagon with flashing red lights came down the street, slowing and then stopping in front of #4. "I wonder what that's for," Holly said, voicing everyone's question.

"Do you know where the Potter boy was taken?" Arabella asked, hoping she could get some useful info.

"No idea," her friend said as two more policemen went in, although one was a really a policewoman.

A moment later, a large police officer and the male officer that had just walked in came out pulling Vernon Dursley with his hands cuffed behind his back. The resident struggled a little when led to the back of the police wagon, but the two officers easily forced him in.

"Now there's something you don't see every day," Arabella murmured and her friend Holly nodded. As she was about to walk back to her house to report this, Petunia was brought out with her head down as if trying to hide, she was also in handcuffs, as was Dudley. The boy was shouting about this being unfair, but the officers ignored the shouts and led the last two to the wagon as well.

As a few of the officers were standing around and watching, yet another police car pulled up. Arabella figured this was her best chance and pushed her way through the small crowd to the front. "Excuse me, Officer?"

One turned around and came over as she waved at him. "Yes?" he asked.

She noticed his nametag said "Malone". "Excuse me, but could you tell me what happened? I watch one of the boys occasionally and I wanted to make sure he's all right," she told him, hoping for a sympathetic ear.

His eyes narrowed and he stood a little straighter. "Which one?"

"The smaller one, Harry," she replied.

He looked thoughtfully at her for a moment. "Please come with me." He looked at the other onlookers. "Everyone else stay where you are." He walked her a little ways over to stand next to a police car. "What can you tell me about him and about what goes on in this house?"

"Is he all right?" she asked with concern.

"My questions first, ma'am," he said with a hint of steel.

She was at a loss as to what he was looking for. "Well, there are two boys who live there, Harry and Dudley; they're cousins. Harry lost his parents some years back, I understand. I sometimes watch him when the Dursleys have to go somewhere; I have since he was little."

"Have you ever noticed anything unusual with them?"

Arabella felt a little trapped and must have shown it because he looked a little harder at her. "Well, he a…" What was the man fishing for?

"He what?" the officer grilled her.

She went for the safe answer. "He always seems a little hungry. I'm not a good cook, but he always ate whatever I put in front of him." Because of his intense expression, she hurriedly tacked on, "Also, no matter what anyone else tells you, Harry isn't a bad boy. Those were rumors Vernon spread about him. The bad one is his cousin Dudley. He and his little gang are the ones that tear up the playground and hurt the other kids; Harry would never do that."

"I see." He pulled out a pen and a notebook. "I need your name and address please. I think someone will want to come and talk to you."

"A-Arabella Figg, #2 Wisteria," she said a little nervously, while wondering if she had anything in her house that was obviously not normal should they come visit her. She'd have to send the Kneazles to the back garden.

"Thank you, Miss Figg."

"What happened, officer?"

"The Dursleys abused Potter and he called for help. I don't think he's hurt too bad, but he looked a right mess and it was definitely enough abuse that I think it'll be an open and shut case. They'll probably get at least five years, although if it was up to me I'd send them to prison for as long as I could," the officer said coldly as the wagon with the Dursleys drove away.

"Where is Harry?"

"He's been taken to get some medical help," he answered. "After that, he'll be placed with a foster family."

She was disappointed not to get more information, but didn't feel like she could ask more now without arousing suspicion. "What about Dudley?" She really didn't care all that much, but felt she needed to know for a full report.

The officer snorted. "He came in and started yelling about how we couldn't arrest his parents and then took a swing at an officer to try to get his mother away. I suppose I can't fault his sentiment, but it was a stupid move. It'll also make us look at him a little closer to see what he's been doing."

He nodded at her. "Thank you, Miss Figg, you've been most helpful. I'd suggest you return to your home."

"I believe I shall; thank you, Officer." She turned and walked around everyone, not stopping when others asked her what was going on. There was time for talking later.

Inside her house, she grabbed the pot for Floo powder and threw some in. "Hogwarts, Headmaster's office." Nothing happened. "Hogwarts, McGonagall's office." Nothing happened for it either. Their Floo connection was dead and they were gone. Damn!

In an inspiration, she tried another, "The Burrow." The fireplace flared and she called out. "Arthur! Molly! It's Arabella!" The connection was working, but no one answered.

She would have tried headquarters, but Dumbledore had told her a few days ago that they had had to abandon it at this time. What was she to do?

Looking at the clock, she saw it was after seven. She'd go to the corner and watch. Maybe Fletcher would come back and she could get him to find someone else. Worst case, there was the next shift. She consulted the schedule left with her and saw that the next shift started at midnight … at least it was young Nymphadora. She had a sensible head on her shoulders.

— — —

It was approaching eleven at night when Marsha Rodgers pulled up to what looked like a church in London. That was about all Harry knew, they were somewhere in London.

Harry pulled his trunk behind him and she carried Hedwig's cage, the one he'd removed the door from when he'd returned for his second year of school, after Vernon had locked her in it the summer before. He kept it so she'd have a place to perch, but she'd never be locked in it again.

A buzzer on the door was pushed and Harry finally saw a sign: St Margaret's Orphanage. There were times in the past when Vernon had threatened to take him to an orphanage. Of course, the man had done his best to make them sound horrible. Harry supposed he was about to find out.

An older woman, who looked to be about McGonagall's age, answered the door. She was in a simple black and white dress and had a kind though tired look. "Miss Rodgers, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to make it tonight." She directed them in and closed the door behind them.

"It has been a long evening. Sister Claire, I'd like you to meet Harry Potter." Rodgers looked at him. "This is Sister Claire and she runs the orphanage. They help us out from time to time on short notice until we can find a foster family."

"Sister," Harry intoned with a respectful half-bow. He wasn't sure that was the right thing to do, but it had felt like it and the woman smiled and nodded her head.

"I hope you don't mind him staying here for a month or so instead of the usual few days; we're very behind in placing children at the moment," Rogers said apologetically. "We'll give you the usual remuneration for as long as he's here."

"That will be appreciated," the Sister said calmly.

Harry cleared his throat quietly, feeling he might as well exert a little influence to his benefit. When both women looked at him, he said, "Perhaps it would be easier, Miss Rodgers, if I just stayed here for the rest of the summer … assuming that's all right with Sister Claire. I'll have to return to school on the first of September, so I won't need a long term place to stay."

Each woman gave him a strange look, but it was Rodgers who responded first. "Why do you say that, Harry? We'll need to enroll you in the school near the foster family you'll be staying with."

"Actually," Harry hoped this explained things without giving too much away, "my deceased parents enrolled me in a small very private boarding school and paid for it. It's where all of my family has gone to school, so there's really nothing for you to do in regards to school."

"Oh? You didn't mention it before," Rodger said, looking as if she thought he might have just made that up.

"You didn't ask," Harry replied with a small shrug.

Before more could be made of the topic, Sister Claire spoke up. "Considering the time, why don't we get Mr Potter settled? This is not something we need a decision on this evening."

The counselor paused and then gave a short firm nod. "Quite right."

"If you'll follow me." The Sister led them to some stairs. "Normally, we'd put you in a room to share with another boy, but it's late and we'd disturb someone. We do have a smaller than normal room, but you'd have it to yourself. Would that work for you, Mr Potter?"

"Thank you, Sister Claire, that would be ideal. That way Hedwig won't disturb anyone when she returns."

The Sister stopped and looked at him. "Who's Hedwig?"

"My, err, friend," he said lamely, "although you might call her a pet." He wasn't ashamed of Hedwig, but he wasn't sure if they'd accept her either.

"I assume she's a bird?" the sister said with an indication towards the cage Rogers was carrying.

"He says she'll return on her own when she's ready," Rogers told her.

"She's out hunting for food now," he explained, with no intention of discussing her ability to deliver letters. "I know it sounds strange, but she'll find me wherever I am; she's very smart."

"I see," although it was very clear that Sister Claire didn't understand. "Like a homing pigeon?"

"I don't know what those are. However, if I could have one sheet of newspaper a week for her cage, that would be all I need for her, other than a window so she can find me," he finished.

After a long moment, the older woman asked, "Do you have any other unusual requests, Mr Potter?"

"No, Sister. Please understand that Hedwig is an important part of my life. In many ways, she's my most faithful friend, especially when I was with my relatives." He wasn't sure what he'd do if he was told 'no' about his owl.

"Very well, we'll see how she works out, but please keep her under control," she finally said as they reached the top of the stairs and turned left on the first floor.

"Thank you very much, Sister Claire," the gratefulness very obvious in his voice. "She's very well behaved, you'll see."

The Sister nodded and directed them into the last room. "It's a little small, but it should do."

Harry looked around. "It's bigger than my old room." He shrugged. "I'll be fine. Thank you for your help."

Rogers set his cage down on the small desk there. "Harry, I'll be back tomorrow to take care of a few things with you, mostly paperwork. Don't worry, very few people know you're here and we won't tell anyone. Your relatives will never find you here. You're very safe."

Harry wondered if the Order could find him here, but there was really no way to know. In many ways, he sort of hoped not. "Thank you for your help too, Miss Rogers."

"Breakfast is between half seven and half eight," the nun told him. "If you come after then, you'll have to wait until lunch to eat. The bathroom is across from the stairs. I hope it's obvious, but the girls' rooms are off limit to all boys, as your rooms are off limits to the girls. I'll fill you in on the rest of the rules tomorrow. I bid you a pleasant evening and hope you sleep well, Mr Potter. As Miss Rogers said, you're safe here." Sister Claire closed the door as she left.

There really wasn't much in the room, Harry noted as he looked around again, but it had all the necessities and while they were a little old none of them were broken. Pleased to have his own room, he opened his window and turned the cage so it faced the window. Pulling sleep clothes out of his trunk, he went to the bathroom to take care of his needs there, including brushing his teeth.

At the other end of the corridor was a closed door; he assumed that was to the wing for the girls' rooms.

Back in his room, he turned out the light and lay down. This wasn't as good as his bed at Hogwarts, but almost. Yeah, he could get used to this as a place to stay in the summer.

— — —

The crowd was long gone and it was near midnight when Arabella heard the tell-tale pop of Apparation. Almost praying it was a friendly, she called quietly, "Tonks?"

The young woman shimmered into view, made harder to see because she was in the shadows. "Mrs Figg?" she returned just as quietly. "Is something wrong?"

"Very much so! Come to my house."

"But I have to watch Harry's house," the off-duty Auror protested.

"There's no one there to watch." Arabella turned and walked away, forcing Tonks to follow.

Safe inside her house, she told the young woman what she knew and how she'd tried to contact others and failed. "Where are Dumbledore and McGonagall?"

"What a bloody awful situation," Tonks murmured. "Dumbledore is out of the country, probably on ICW business. McGonagall took a few days off to return to her home for personal business. I don't know where the Weasleys were, but I suspect they had just stepped out. Where's Fletcher? He should have been here before me."

"I have no idea, but I'm ready to take my umbrella to him," she said angrily, "starting with the pointy end. He may not be a Death Eater and working against us, but he's of no help either. I don't know why Albus thinks he can trust the man with something this important."

"I have no idea either," Tonks said as she considered what to do. "I'll contact Moody, that'll start some fires under people. You really don't know where they took Harry?"

"No," Arabella shook her head. "It took me a while to find out that he'd been hurt in the fight and that he'd been taken to see a doctor or a Muggle Healer if you will."

"What a bloody mess," Tonks swore. "You might as well put on some tea. Moody will want to hear the story from you directly and I don't think it will take him long to get here." She Apparated away wondering what they were going to do.

* * *

Harry awoke and felt mostly refreshed. Looking at the old clock on his bedside table, he saw it was a little before eight. That gave him a little extra time before breakfast.

Opening his trunk, he pulled out his best normal clothes and got dressed. He then put the rest of his non-school clothes in the dresser. He made sure all of his Hogwarts stuff was left in his trunk; sadly, he thought that included his wand too. He'd just have to chance it that he wouldn't need it, or that he'd have time to get it if required. Of course, he did have his extra power; hopefully, that'd do in an emergency - at least if he was outside.

Looking around one more time, he decided this was a nearly perfect setup for the summer, if he couldn't spend it at The Burrow, which he was sure Dumbledore would deny. Yes, he decided with an air of finality, he'd stay here completely out of sight of the Wizarding world. He really hoped they didn't track him down.

He stopped by the toilet then went downstairs. It wasn't hard to find the place to eat. His entering the room caused the conversation there to stop. He stood in the doorway, unsure what to do. Sister Claire rose smoothly and walked over to him.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce Harry Potter. He joined us late last night. He'll be staying with us for most if not all of the summer. As you can see from his bandages, he had a difficult day yesterday, so I ask you not to ask too many questions of him. The usual rule applies," she looked at Harry to make sure he understood, "no one has to answer any questions about their past."

Harry nodded, thankful for that mercy.

"I hope you all will find a moment to introduce yourself to him sometime today." Sister Claire touched his shoulder and directed him towards a window in the wall, one that had the kitchen on the other side, with a counter that held bowls of food. "Help yourself to breakfast, Harry. When you're done, please see me and I'll introduce you to the other sisters."

"Thank you," he told her and helped himself to a breakfast that wasn't too different from normal.

With his food on a tray, he looked around. There looked to be about thirty kids, most were younger, probably less than ten years old. He saw a small group of the older ones and took a seat with them.

"Err, hi, I guess you know I'm Harry." He looked at the four there; all looked younger than him.

"I'm Catrin," the dark brunette said with little hesitation. She looked at him with interest. "How old are you?"

Harry nodded to the girl who was cute, almost pretty; he thought she might be a looker in another year or two. "Sixteen in a month. You?"

"Fourteen, almost fifteen," she said brightly and with interest.

Before she could say more, the skinny boy with hair about as light as Draco Malfoy's said, "I'm Phillip; I'm also fourteen."

"William, but you can call me Will; fifteen for me," the brunette with a complexion problem and wire-rimmed glasses said.

"Fifteen," the last boy said before the question could be asked. "My name's Mike and you can call me Mike," he said quietly with a grin, which disappeared when the others rolled their eyes at him.

Harry smiled at him with helped Mike's smile return a little, although the boy didn't try any more jokes.

"Someone really did a number on you. Is that why you're here?" Catrin asked.

"It looks worse than it is, but yeah, my relatives don't much care for me," Harry said as he remembered his slight shock when he'd looked in the mirror that morning and seen the bruise on his left cheek where Vernon had clipped him. Then there were still the bandages on his arms from the glass and the bandage on his forehead from his aunt.

"Who won?" Will asked as he finished his breakfast.

"Not sure," Harry said before he grinned. "But I walked out of the house and they went out in handcuffs." That caused chuckles and a giggle. "What's it like here?"

They all looked at each other, but it was Mike who finally answered. "Not bad as far as orphanages go; this is my third. It's pretty boring here in the summer; the Sisters are kinda strict, but they're generally good." He shrugged. "I haven't had much to complain about."

"Beats living in the street," Phillip said quietly.

The other two didn't offer an opinion, but Catrin gave Phillip a single emphatic nod of agreement.

"Sounds better than where I came from and I could use a boring summer," Harry told them.

"Bet you don't say that in a week. It's really boring," Catrin said as she stood and took her tray back to the kitchen. The others followed her.

Maybe not the friendliest group, but they didn't seem too bad, Harry thought. He finished his breakfast before taking his tray back and saw Mike and Phillip taking care of the dirty dishes. Not knowing what else to do, he turned and sought out Sister Claire.

The head of the orphanage smiled at him. "Mr Potter, I'd like to introduce you to Sister Mary, Sister Theresa, and Sister Margo. From time to time, Curate Riley also comes over to help a little."

Harry gave a half-bow to each of the ladies.

"Miss Rodgers told me that you were living with your aunt and uncle because your parents died when you were younger."

She had half-stated half-asked, so Harry answered, "Yes, Sister. My parents were killed shortly after my first birthday. They were," he paused to consider how to say it, "unlucky and in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm told I was lucky to have survived."

The women all nodded in understanding that sometimes tragedy strikes without reason before Claire continued. "I hope you don't think this rude, but why are you wearing your old work clothes? We don't have a work project scheduled for today."

Harry looked down at his hand-me-down clothes from Dudley, including his old sneakers that were barely holding together. "These are, umm, these are the best I have."

All of the women looked at Sister Mary. "I don't know that we have anything his size, but I'll look. Perhaps Miss Rodgers could help? You said she was returning today?"

"Yes, she possibly might help," Claire agreed before turning back to Harry. "I mentioned the most important rules last evening Mr Potter. In addition, no fighting, no inappropriate behavior with the girls, there will be a few chores and we'll add you to the rotation for the older children, and Saturdays are project day and we'll expect you to help us care for and maintain the facility like you would any home you lived in.

"Otherwise, you're free to play games, read or study, and we do have a small library of school books and a few fiction books, or just visit with the other children. We also have a playground. I know there's not much to do here in the summer, so if you have an idea of something you'd like to do that is free or doesn't cost much, let us know and we'll consider it. We do have movie night on Saturday evenings, a reward for helping to keep the home looking nice.

"If there is anything you need, please let us know and we'll see what we can do."

"You forgot about Sundays, Sister," Sister Theresa said and then explained herself. "Since we are sponsored by the church, you are required to attend a church service for at least the first three months and we would prefer you continue after that."

"My relatives never took me to church, so I don't mind seeing what it's like," Harry told them, which made Sister Theresa frown.

"There is one other thing," Sister Mary said and looked at Claire, who gave a nod. "I know we only know a little about what happened to you, but if you need anyone to talk to about it, please come see us. If you'd prefer to talk to a man, I'll make arrangements with Curate Riley to come see you. Some boys prefer that," she said with a knowing smile. "Anything you tell us will be confidential."

"I'll consider it," he said slowly. Honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted to talk to anyone and he certainly couldn't talk about his magic and what he did ten months of the year at school.

"I'm not sure if it will happen for you, but Miss Rodgers usually schedules some time for one of their counselors to come talk to those they place here," Sister Mary told him. "You have options for help. I hope you take advantage of it because difficult situations can become worse if not worked out."

Harry nodded. "I'll consider it," he said again, not really wanting to discuss it now.

"If you'll follow me, Mr Potter," Claire told him as she rose, "I'll give you a tour of our little place."

— — —

Just before lunch, Harry returned to the orphanage with several bags in hand. Miss Rodgers had been appalled at Harry's clothes, thinking that what she'd seen him in the day before wasn't normal, and had taken him shopping at a nearby store to pick up a few changes of clothes. He had also had to help her fill out some paperwork about himself.

"Please come back down after you put those away, Harry," Miss Rodgers told him.

When he returned from his room, she was talking to Sister Claire, who led them both to her little office.

"Harry," the woman from Social Services looked at him with a frown, "you didn't fill out the part about your school."

He sighed, a little frustrated because he could tell she really wanted to know and he also knew he couldn't tell her the truth. "I'm sorry, Miss Rodgers, but like I tried to explain last night, I go to a private school that my parents paid for when I was born. It's not a problem for anyone, not even my relatives could prevent me from going. Please accept that and don't worry about it."

She looked frustrated too. "Can you at least tell me the name of it?"

"You're not going to find it on any lists; it's very exclusive and they don't advertise. Either your family knows about it and sends you there or it's not talked about." He really didn't want to name it in case any Squibs saw the paperwork. As for his name, he had to hope 'Potter' was common enough that a Squib would think he was a Muggle … assuming a Squib worked for Social Services.

Rodgers sat back in more frustration.

Sister Claire intervened to keep the peace. "On a more practical topic, do you have any allergies or medical conditions we should be aware of?"

"No, Sister."

"Mr Potter," Sister Claire paused before she continued more gently, "is there anything that you prefer not to do here, chores that might make you suddenly upset?"

Harry pondered that for a moment before he realized what she was asking. Hanging his head, he nodded slightly. "I'd prefer if I didn't have to cook. I can clean up if needed, but I'd really like to not have to cook."

"That didn't work out well for you with your relatives?" Claire asked, still very gently.

"Usually not; I believe that was why the last fight started; I wasn't cooking like they thought I was supposed to be. They didn't bother me too much when I was cleaning up and I could sneak any food away that they didn't eat," he admitted. Of course, given how Dudley normally ate, there usually wasn't much left over.

"I don't think that will be a problem here," the nun told him with a confirming smile and comforting hand on his shoulder.

He wondered if this conversation was over just before Rodgers spoke up once more.

"One last thing, Harry, one of our social workers will be by tomorrow to talk to you. It will be very confidential, she won't even tell me what you say unless she thinks you will hurt yourself. I hope you will talk to her. Almost every young person that I've talked to in a situation like yours finds this helpful." Rodgers looked at him expectantly.

Realizing she was waiting for an answer, he finally nodded. "I guess it can't hurt." As he looked down again, he saw his new trainers and smiled. "Thank you for the clothes. It's the first time I've ever had new clothes that weren't a school uniform."

Marsha Rodgers put her hand on Harry's shoulder and patted it. "My agency is here to help you, Harry, or at least where we can given that we're always short-handed and short of budget. I'll drop by and check on you next week."

She left and Sister Claire let him go do what he wanted. Going to the bookcase of library books, he found a book on preparing for the O-Level tests. He picked it up to see what he had missed because he'd left for Hogwarts and what he could learn now. He couldn't pull out his magical books except when he was alone in his room at night.

Since it was a nice day, he went to the playground in the back and made himself comfortable in the shade. He also took a few minutes to try out his new power. He was able to make a few limbs of the big tree move with the wind; it was hard work to use it in a controlled fashion, but he would practice.

* * *

(A/N: I wanted Harry to have an X-men like power but didn't want to do a crossover, so this is how I'm doing that. BTW, when I envision the scene where the police break through the door, I think of Dwayne Johnson in the role of the large cop who takes Vernon down. :)

For those who don't remember from the books, Petunia Dursley does try to hit Harry with a frying pan. From book 2 and I quote:

 _Harry paid dearly for his moment of fun. As neither Dudley nor the hedge was in any way hurt, Aunt Petunia knew he hadn't really done magic, but he still had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow at his head with the soapy frying pan. Then she gave him work to do, with the promise he wouldn't eat again until he'd finished._

Ah, such a lovely woman … not!

If you want a true "Harry is an magical Elemental" story, you should check out "Elemental Harry" by Hermyd. Despite the fact that we both let Harry play with air, there is nothing borrowed from that story. Anything that is found in both stories should be "common sense" sort of things, like Harry can move air and move things with air.

Don't forget, I can edit the story after Kokopelli sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	2. A Different Summer

(A/N: Thanks to everyone for all the nice reviews and well wishes.)

 **Chapter 2 - A Different Summer**

The next morning when Harry awoke, he immediately looked at his little desk, for he had been very worried last night. The sight of his familiar sitting in her cage, looking at him with one open golden eye filled him with excitement. "Hedwig! You found me."

He jumped out of bed and petted her, which she seemed to enjoy. The only thing from the magical world he'd left out of his trunk was her bag of owl treats. He pulled a treat from the bag and gave it to her. "I'll bring you back some more food from breakfast. I'm sorry, but you won't have much to do this summer. I'll be hiding here, so if you think someone wants to write me, you need to ignore them. That includes Hermione."

Hedwig gave him a little bark, which he interpreted as her understanding. He had put new newspaper in the bottom of her cage yesterday, so he petted her one last time before he dressed and hurried down to breakfast.

After he finished eating, he grabbed a paper napkin and grabbed several bits of bacon that the others didn't eat as well as a half slice of ham, which he tore up into little pieces.

Catrin had been watching him and finally asked, "Harry, why are you gathering leftovers to take with you? We'll have lunch today so you don't have to save food."

He grinned at her. "It's not for me; Hedwig returned and I wanted something special for her."

"Who's Hedwig?"

"My owl, she's my most faithful friend," he answered as he gathered up the napkin's corners into a little bundle and stood.

"An owl? Seriously? You have a pet owl?" she asked, the other boys looked as surprised as she did.

"I have an owl, but don't let her hear you calling her a pet; she won't like it. She's my friend; if you were to ask her," he grinned now, "she'd probably say that I was her pet." He grabbed his tray with his other hand and left for the kitchen, where he dropped it off. The others followed him as quickly as they could.

Harry entered his room and went to his desk. He placed a few pieces of bacon in his hand and held it flat in front of his owl. Hedwig snapped them up, barely touching his hand.

As Hedwig ate those first few pieces, his new friends came to his door and crowded there for a moment.

"It's true and she's beautiful," Catrin cooed and slowly walked over.

Hedwig snagged another piece of bacon from Harry, all the while watching the visitors.

"Can I pet her?" Catrin asked.

"If you're gentle," Harry responded as he reached into the cage and pulled his special girl out. "If you're not, well, she let you know and you won't like it," he told her with a grin.

Catrin froze for a moment before moving her hand again, much slower this time. "She's so soft."

Hedwig stopped eating for a moment and enjoyed the petting.

Footsteps caused everyone to look towards the door again. Sister Claire now stood in the doorway, behind the boys who looked impressed at the owl.

"Your Hedwig is an _owl_? I was expecting a parakeet or maybe a canary," the nun said.

Hegwig gave several angry sounding barks , which made Catrin pull her hand back.

"Err, I'm not sure exactly what she said, but she's definitely insulted. She's far better than a canary or parakeet," Harry told her.

The owl cooed once as she looked at Harry, making all the students laugh, which caused the nun to look surprised.

Harry fed her some of the ham, which Hedwig happily took. "I'll be down to clean up in the kitchen in a few minutes, Sister Claire, as soon as I finish feeding Hedwig."

The nun nodded. "Thank you for remembering." She looked at the girl. "Catrin, you're not supposed to be in a boy's room."

"I think she's wonderful," Catrin said with a slight giggle before leaving with the nun following her.

"Interesting," Phillip said before leaving with the rest of the boys following.

— — —

As Harry finished cleaning up breakfast in the kitchen, Sister Claire came in and looked around. "Good job, boys."

Phillip and Harry both nodded.

"Mr Potter, if you'd come with me, I want you to meet someone."

He followed the head nun to her office. There, he saw a young woman, maybe in her mid-twenties with shoulder-length curly blonde hair. He suspected she would say she needed to lose a little weight (as most girls said), but he thought she was fairly attractive.

"Mr Potter, this is Miss Paige Walters. She's from Social Services and she's here to help you. Miss Walters, this is Mr Potter. You can use my office for as long as you need." Sister Claire then left.

She smiled at him and held out her hand which he shook. "Mr Potter, it's nice to meet you. Would you like to sit?" She indicated a chair in front of the desk.

To his surprise, she took the other chair in front of the desk, not the one behind the desk. "You can call me Harry, Miss Walters."

She smiled at him again. "Thank you, Harry. You can call me Miss Paige if you'd prefer."

She set what he now recognized as a recorder down on the desk and turned it on. "I hope you don't mind, but I like to record our sessions. That allows me to review them later and also allows me to listen to you more because I don't have to take notes now. Are you all right with that?"

He considered that for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose that's fine."

"Wonderful," she told him with another bright smile. "I'll tell you a little about myself first. I'm a second year master's student at the university as I work to get my degree in Social Work. I'm at the point in my studies that I'm doing practical work, which I do by helping Social Services.

"I've always enjoyed helping other people and this is my way to do that." She picked up a binder from the desk and held it in her lap before she shifted her left hand to the top of it and towards him as she held the binder.

He couldn't miss the ring with the largish diamond on it. It took a moment, but he realized why she'd done that and blushed. He didn't blame her and thought it was a good move on her part since he was an older teen.

Chuckling quietly at him, she added, "Yes, I am engaged to a wonderful young man who is finishing his degree in Mathematics. In fact, he already has a job lined up with a company; I'm very proud of him.

"But, enough about me at the moment, I'd like to talk to you about your life, Harry. I can help you deal with what's happened to you. I'm also a very good listener and you can just talk if you like." She looked at him patiently.

Harry wondered where to start. There was one obvious place given what she just said. "I, err, I don't have a girlfriend at the moment. Not sure that's a good idea anyway; my life's not really stable."

She leaned forward slightly. "Harry, what happened to you at your relatives place isn't your fault. They were the adults and they should have known better and acted responsibly."

That simple statement turned his world upside down. How had he not seen that before? It took a moment, but he eventually heard his name and focused on her again, realizing he'd sort of zoned out on that thought.

"Is something wrong," she asked. "You looked lost there for a moment and I couldn't get your attention."

"I, uh," he trailed off, not really knowing what to say as well as realizing he couldn't fully explain his realization of how many adults had not really acted like he thought adults should … or really like how Hermione thought they should. She looked up to adults and always trusted them, but did they really deserve that trust? "I never thought about it like that. I mean, it's obvious they're the adults and I'm not, but to have it stated that plainly - I hadn't thought of it that way before."

Paige nodded at him. "Yes, they're the adults, but you also have to make some allowances for mistakes; not everyone is perfect. Sometimes a better question is to ask what their intentions are, although that is usually harder to answer."

Harry couldn't help the snort that escaped. "That doesn't help my relatives. I know they hated me and never wanted me around; but for some of the other adults…"

He considered the ones in the Wizarding world. Most of them were idiots and sheep, willing to believe anything they read about him in the Daily Prophet. The few that were directly in his life were a very mixed bag.

"Yes?" she asked, trying to draw him out.

"A few don't like me, hate me even," he said, thinking about Voldemort and his crew, including Snape; and then there was Minister Fudge who he was sure didn't like him and probably only saw Harry as someone to be used for his own gain.

"Some probably are trying to help me." He thought Flitwick and probably even McGonagall, despite her mistakes, were in this group. After a moment, he added Hagrid to that group as well. "The rest, I don't know what to think as I don't know them well enough." He wasn't sure where to put Dumbledore and that bothered him. Another person that bothered him was Remus Lupin, who seemed to be on his side but was never there for him.

"Why don't you tell me about them? Perhaps I can help you to understand them better."

Harry considered her question. He was sure she'd like to hear about all of the adults, but he couldn't share that. Instead, he told her about his relatives. Strangely, he found that as much as he had not wanted to share this information before and had felt that way for years, he was now finding it easier to tell people what he had been put through at #4 Privet Drive. It also occurred to him that this new comfort level did not extend to his magical friends for some reason when he considered telling Ron or Hermione.

When he finished his story, Paige looked at him for a moment. "I'm truly sorry you went through that, Harry; however, I hope this talking is helping you?"

"Maybe it is," he conceded after a moment. "I know I never thought about who should be responsible before. Of course, I am turning into an adult myself."

"You are," she said with a smile, "but you have a couple of years left yet."

He nodded, although he knew he really had only about a year left, due to the age difference in the Wizarding world. Yes, he thought, maybe it's time I grew up and started acting like the adult I'm supposed to be.

"How do you feel about your relatives now? If you went out and met them as you walked down the street, what would you do?" she asked with a penetrating looking, one almost worthy of Hermione.

Harry considered that for a moment. "As long as I don't have to go back and live with them, I'd probably just walk around them and ignore them if I could. If I had to go back and live with them … well, I don't think that would be a good idea. I'd try a lot harder to defend myself." He thought he'd take the risk of bringing the house down if he was in a fight with Vernon again.

She made a mark in her binder and gave him a pleased look. "I'm glad you'd avoid them if you could. As for living with them again, I don't believe that's something you'll have to worry about."

Looking at her watch, Paige closed her binder. "I'd like to return again next Tuesday and talk with you some more. Would that be all right with you?"

"Sure, I don't see any harm," he told her with a shrug. "Thank you, Miss Paige."

"It's my pleasure. Have a good week, Harry," she told him as she left.

Harry went up to his room and laid down on his bed and considered what it meant to be an adult, or how he wanted adults to act … not only for himself but versus how the adults around him had acted over the last five years at school. He thought about this a lot over the rest of the day.

— — —

Paige Walters returned to her office at the university and immediately set out to find her mentor Fortunately, he was in his office looking over some papers from a class. "Professor?"

"Ah, Paige, come in and have a seat. I believe you were out doing rounds today? How did that go?"

"Yes, Professor, I, uh…" she wasn't sure how to express her concern.

"Out with it, Paige, or we shall be here all night," he said kindly despite the gruffness of the words.

"Professor, do you believe in telekinesis?"

The old man blinked at her. "I'm afraid you'll need to be more specific before I can answer," he told her, sounding intrigued at her question. "There is a lot we don't know about the human brain and its abilities. Specifically, what caused you to ask?"

"I know this will sound strange, but I was counseling a young man this morning. He's about to turn sixteen and was just removed from an abusive home this last weekend. I managed to convince him to tell me about his home life…"

The professor nodded approvingly.

"...and there were a few times that I'd swear the air in the room started to move. After the second time, I finally realized it was when he'd describe something that had been done to him that was horrid and made him angry."

"There are any number of reasons you could have felt air moving," the old man said in an off-handed way.

"I know, Professor, but there were no fans in the room, not even a ceiling fan. There was no air cooler in the window or a vent in the room. The building is old, probably built shortly after the Blitz of World War Two, so there is no central cooling."

"That is strange," he harrumphed.

"Also, when he calmed down, the air movement ceased. If it wasn't him, I don't know what it was." She looked at him expectantly.

He took a deep breath. "I don't hold with much of the paranormal nonsense; to my knowledge, true telekinesis is a fiction. In my mind, that would even be harder than telepathy, which hasn't ever been demonstrated in controlled conditions either." At her downcast look, he added gently, "Still, keep an eye on him. If it does ever happen, there must be a first."

"Thank you, Professor," she said as she stood.

— — —

Everyone at the meeting was talking with someone else about the obvious topic when Albus Dumbledore walked in the back door of The Burrow. He had arrived back in England only a few hours ago, distressed at the news that had forced him to return early from his ICW meetings.

"Good evening and thank you for coming. Arthur and Molly, thank you for allowing us to use your home for this as our normal place is unavailable," he said with a gracious nod and saw large proud smiles on the faces of the host and hostess. He was pleased to see the absence of the two younger Weasley children, although the twins were here.

"I received a message from Alastor that Harry Potter has gone missing and that a search has been started. Has anyone found anything about where he might be?" Albus looked around, hoping for good news.

"Nay," Moody said when no one else did, "nary a word other than what Mrs Figg brought us. The Dursley house is still empty."

"I see." Albus looked at the Aurors. "Kinglsley, Tonks, any word at the Ministry, even a warning about magical usage?"

Kingsley Shacklebolt shook his head slowly as he said, "Obviously, we've had to be very discreet, but we couldn't find any information at the Ministry. I did check with Hopkirk, but if Potter has used magic then it was in a warded area."

"Has anyone checked with the Muggles?" Albus asked.

"I tried, Sir," Tonks told him. "I masqueraded as one of them and asked around a little at one of their police stations … the police are like our Aurors. I couldn't find anything on Harry specifically, but I was told that it's normal for children who are removed from homes to be sent to a foster family to live with, and usually within a day of being removed from his family. They also restrict the information on his placement to only the few who work with him. So he could be living with anyone by now and I couldn't find out who to ask."

"I tried to send an owl to him this morning," Molly volunteered, "but our owl wouldn't take the letter to him. It was very odd; it was as if he couldn't find Harry. I hope he's not with a Dark family under some horrible wards."

"Yes, I had similar results with both an owl and with my phoenix, Fawkes," Albus admitted a little sadly, ignoring her last comment. He looked to the back of the room by the door. "Severus, have you heard anything?"

"No, Headmaster, although I'm not sure I would be told at this time," the spy confessed. "I can say that none of the Death Eaters are acting like they're searching for anyone or anything. Everything is quiet."

"And Voldemort?" their leader asked.

"He's unusually quiet," Snape replied. "I can't say what, but I believe something happened during the fight at the Ministry that has either affected him or caused him doubt. If you wished to move against him, now would be a good time."

"If only we could," Moody growled quietly, but everyone heard him anyway; he was ignored by the leader of the group.

"Very well, please keep your eyes and ears open for information that might help us, especially information about Harry Potter. It is imperative that we find him. Have a good evening," Albus said to dismiss them. He also motioned to Remus Lupin, who came forward as did Nymphadora Tonks.

"Remus," Albus said quietly, "Moody said there was a discussion with the Dursleys at the train station. Do you have anything to add to that story? He said Harry spoke with you as he was leaving."

Lupin sighed and looked down guiltily. "Harry said 'thanks for the support' but 'it was fifteen years too late' and that we'd probably just made his summer worse." At Dumbledore's disapproving look, Lupin quickly went on. "I know, it probably wasn't the wisest thing we could have done, at least in hindsight, but it seemed like a good way to help him at the time."

"And you've not received a note from him since?"

"No, Professor. The closest thing I've heard of is that Ron received a note from Harry, probably on the day he was attacked, and it was probably sent before Harry was attacked. By the time I heard of it, Harry's owl had returned hours earlier, so we couldn't trace him that way. What about the instruments in your office?" Lupin asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid that Harry's ire at me broke most of those and I've yet to repair any of them. I can say that he's alive, but that's about all I can tell." Dumbledore shook his head. "I really hadn't expected any trouble this early in the summer, given that Harry was just in a battle."

"I told you that was not a good place for him."

Dumbledore looked to the right and saw Minerva McGonagall giving him a disapproving look as she walked up. "It was the best place for him at the time."

"Perhaps best for you," McGonagall huffed, "but obviously not for Harry. When we find him, and I'm sure we will, he will not be returning to them; I will not allow it this time."

"I don't think it likely," Tonks told them. "Both Dursley adults are in jail. His cousin was sent there too, although I heard he was sent to Dursley's sister the next day."

"We'll work something out," Albus said vaguely, still wondering just what had happened.

* * *

It was a Friday afternoon and Harry had been at the orphanage almost a week, or it would be a week as of Sunday evening. So far, he was fairly happy being here. The few chores he did were reasonably easy and he was left to his own plans for most of each day.

The few other older boys spent as much time as they were allowed, generally only four hours a day, inside playing video games. He'd tried it once; he'd done all right but he didn't find it all that interesting.

Instead, he spent much of his time reading. He was still looking at the self-study book to prepare for the Muggle O-level tests, tests he should have just taken if he hadn't gone to Hogwarts. He spent a good deal of time working through it, trying to extend his knowledge on what he'd missed the last five years by not going to a Muggle school. He didn't bother trying to learn it all, only the parts that seemed interesting and potentially useful.

He'd found a place on the playground that was shady most of the day and he'd sit and read. Sometimes, other kids would come over and see what he was doing, Catrin was probably the most frequent visitor, but none of them stayed very long when they saw what he was reading.

Harry had also sent Hedwig to the bookstore in Diagon Alley with a note and some money to pick up an introductory book on Runes. It was a subject that he regretted not taking the more he learned and thought about it; plus, it was something he could learn without using magic … although he could only read it at night, like his other magical books.

Despite having just taken his OWLS, Harry reviewed his notes and other earlier textbooks. He was surprised at how much he was learning, as well as how much he had missed before. It made him wonder yet again why he was thinking more clearly and learning better. He also noticed that he hadn't had a single vision or pain from his curse scar since his battle at the end of June. He couldn't figure any way to know if those two things were related or not.

A raised girl's voice from not far away caught his attention. Looking up from his book, he saw a dark haired boy of about ten or eleven standing over and looking down at a little blonde haired girl of about six. The look on the boy's face was one he'd seen many times before on Dudley's face. Looking around, he realized that the boy had chosen this time because the Sister that was usually out here was gone for the moment.

The moment he pushed her, Harry dropped his book and rose in a single movement. Harry had to give the girl credit, she didn't back down from the bully, for that was what he certainly was.

"Leave us alone!" she screamed at him, obviously trying to stand up for her few friends as well, who were nervously cowering behind her.

"I said," the boy growled, "you lot don't get to play over here unless I say so."

"We can too," she argued back with a tremor in her voice.

Harry recognized she was close to tears in her anger and started to walk over since Sister Teresa wasn't back yet.

The boy's eyes narrowed and his hand moved back. Harry practically ran the last three steps as he also imagined pushing the boy towards him. He felt a breeze hit him in the face as the boy stumbled sideways towards Harry and the pre-teen's hand lashed out. Harry caught the boy's wrist and pulled hard. The boy was already off balance by this time and Harry yanking on his arm was too much, causing the boy to fall down in front of Harry and beside the girl.

Harry loosened his grip enough that he didn't twist the boy's arm, but he didn't let go either. Looking down at the little bully, Harry let his anger show. "It's not so fun to have bigger people do things to you, is it?" The boy gave several quick shakes of his head. "We do not hit girls when we disagree with them; and we especially do not bully and hit them when we're so much bigger than them. If she was trying to hurt you, you could defend yourself, but you were being a bully."

He let his voice go a little deeper and colder. "I don't like bullies. Are you going to do that again?"

The boy shook his head emphatically.

"See that you don't," Harry told him as he let the boy's arm go and stepped back half a step. The little bully rolled away from him and clamored to his feet before he ran for the building.

Purposefully pushing his anger away and forcing a smile on his face, he turned to the girl and knelt down on one knee in front of her. "Are you all right?"

She studied him for a moment before she smiled slightly. "Yes, you were cool! You were so scary but I also knew I was safe."

He slowly moved his hand to her and touched her shoulder. "I'm glad you feel safe. My name's Harry; what's yours?"

The girl giggled. "Of course you are. Sister Claire told us all. I'm Elizabeth." Her smile grew and she said as if it was a big secret, "Just like the Queen."

Harry couldn't help it and he chuckled as she giggled again. "Yeah, just like the Queen."

Elizabeth looked over his shoulder and lost her grin. "I think you're going to be in trouble. Sister Teresa doesn't look happy." She stepped sideways a little to be more behind Harry as he stood. "Bradley is back too," she whispered.

Turning he saw Sister Teresa approaching him along with a slightly dirty looking "Bradley" behind her, who was smirking at Harry, much like Draco Malfoy would have done.

"Mr Potter!" she called, reproach in her voice.

"Sister Teresa, I'm glad you caught him," Harry said quickly, causing the nun to pull up short. Harry thought he might have a chance here if she was fair. "He was being a bully to the girls here and pushing Elizabeth. I stopped him as he tried to hit her."

"Oh, that's not the story I was told," said the nun as she looked around, taking in all the children looking at her.

"In my experience, bullies rarely tell the truth about what they do," Harry returned calmly. "You can ask the girls though. I dislike to think what would have happened if I hadn't intervened while you were away." It appeared he'd been successful in creating doubt.

The nun looked at the girls. "Which story is true?"

"Harry's!" Elizabeth said quickly. "He," she pointed at Bradley, "pushed me and said we couldn't play by the tree. He tried to hit me but Harry saved me." Her friends were all nodding like a house elf. Several others that were a little older and standing nearby, all girls Harry noticed, were nodding slowly in confirmation.

"I see," the nun said before turning to the boy who'd run to her. "Mr Turner, lying is never right, and it's even worse when you do it purposefully to get someone in trouble. We also do not bully others. Come with me." She grabbed his collar and guided him back into the building.

Harry looked down at the little girl and saw her smiling brightly. "I guess you'll be all right now?"

"Yes, thank you, Harry!" she squealed as she wrapped her arms around his waist to give him a hug.

He patted her on the back and then returned to his book in the shade of the building when she left to go play with her friends under the biggest tree in the playground.

Just as he made himself comfortable, a dark brunette sat down beside him. She smiled flirtingly at him. "That was pretty impressive, just like a knight in shining armor to rescue the damsel. I don't suppose you could rescue this damsel too?" She batted her eyes at him.

He couldn't help the smile, which he felt was better than laughing, as she might have taken that wrong. "I'm not a knight. I'm only a boy who doesn't like bullies. I've been bullied far too often."

Catrin lost her smile and looked at him for a long moment. "You're not the biggest boy for your age, but you don't look all that small either. After the way you stood up for Lizzy, I don't see you as someone who would allow himself to be bullied."

Leaning against the wall, he considered what he wanted to let out. "It's hard to avoid when it's six against one," he told her finally.

"Still, I think you'd do all right unless it's like that," she argued.

Harry considered her statement in light of some of his recent thoughts and feelings. There was also his new found power. He hadn't missed the fact that it had answered his desire a few minutes ago. "Thanks. It's probably truer now. I didn't always stand up for myself before, but now…"

"Now," she picked up when he'd trailed off, "you would after what was done to you." She vaguely motioned to his bruised cheek which had yellowed nicely after Vernon had clipped him. He'd also removed the bandages on his arms and forehead the day before, so there were small pink spots there, except for the one red line where he'd been cut so deeply. He was healing quickly, but the injuries didn't go away as fast as they would have with Madam Pomfrey's help.

He nodded because she was right. The change had been primed all year last year because of Umbridge. Then the fight in the Department of Mysteries pushed him to the breaking point. He thought the fight with his relatives had been the final bit needed to cause him to move in his new direction - his new attitude; he might even say his new confidence in himself. "I won't be taken advantage of again if I can help it, and I won't be bullied anymore," he stated with certainty.

Catrin looked at him with interest, as if trying to really figure him out. For once, she wasn't trying to be cute and flirty. "I don't know what it is, but you're special," she declared before the solemn moment was lost to her normal teasing look. "I think you need a girlfriend and I'm applying for the job."

If it hadn't been for the serious moment, he would have instantly dismissed her attempt and almost did anyway. Then he considered that maybe it was different here than at Hogwarts. "What does being my girlfriend mean?"

Her playfulness left again. "They don't have dating at your school?"

"Yes," he admitted slowly, "but it's usually a pretty serious thing, at least for most people by the time we reach the upper years. I can't do a serious relationship here - I'm just here until the end of August."

Shifting, she considered that as she looked at him quizzically. "We're almost fifteen and sixteen. How serious do you think this can be? Besides, it's hard enough to find a place to kiss here much less anything beyond that. The old women watch me the most, I think."

He blinked a few times before he shook his head, glad he'd asked. "I think we're looking at this differently. All I'm trying to say is that I can't do anything long term. I'm not going to be here beyond August and I'll probably never live here again."

Both of her eyebrows rose. "You already know you're going to be placed with someone?"

"No," he replied with a small smile while wondering just how many misunderstandings there were between them, not counting the magical differences. "I mean that I'm returning to school on the first of September. I go to a boarding school that my parents paid for before they died. Next summer, I'll be old enough to stay somewhere on my own. It doesn't feel right to me to start something with you."

"Because most relationships at your school are long term ones?" she asked, gaining a little more confidence in the conversation.

"Well, not all are long term, but I think many are searching for that. We date a bit and if there isn't anything special then we break it off fairly quickly. A lot of couples get married soon after school. Of course, some don't marry until years later." He shrugged, not sure what else to say or what else he could say without giving away his world. He was starting to understand a little better why many Magicals didn't marry Muggles.

"You've never dated just for the fun of it?" She sounded surprised in her question.

Harry snorted. "I've been on all of one date. It didn't go well. Usually, I just don't have time for it."

After a long moment, she grinned at him. "Then it's time for something different, Harry. Date me just for the summer and just for the fun of it."

It sounded so easy, but could he? "I'm not saying yes yet, but what would we do? You said there's not much to do here and I'm sure the Sisters would watch us very carefully with me being the oldest boy here and you being the oldest girl."

Catrin sighed and moved over and leaned against the wall too, purposefully touching her shoulder to his and her leg against his leg. "You're right, there's not much we can do, but if we're careful, it can work. We can sit like this and cuddle during movie night. Holding hands is allowed, you know, even here." She turned her head and whispered in his ear. "If we're careful we can find the privacy to snog a little."

Harry considered her and her offer. She was cute, not that _that_ was his only criteria, but she was pleasant to look at. There were hidden depths to her, although it seemed she kept those mostly hidden so far. He was so clueless around girls though; yet perhaps…

"Slow and careful then," he offered, causing her to smile brightly. "But don't forget that I'm leaving at the end of August; this isn't serious."

The girl reached out and took his hand and held it. Her hand was a bit warm, much like the day, but Harry decided he didn't mind as she continued to smile at him.

"Tell me a little about yourself," he asked.

* * *

At breakfast the next day, Catrin sat beside Harry during breakfast for the first time, drawing looks from the other teens. She didn't say a thing about Harry being her boyfriend; her smile and leaning against him occasionally answered that question.

Afterward, everyone followed directions to go back to their room and changed clothes into their "work clothes". Harry had forgotten about work day and the rest of them had apparently hoped it would be cancelled. They didn't do this every Saturday, but the exceptions were few he was told.

Despite Catrin's attempts to work with Harry, she was directed to join the other girls. Harry was paired with Mike and sent out to work on the lawn around the orphanage and then next door in front of the small church that sponsored them.

"This is what we do every Saturday?" Harry asked Mike. "This isn't hard."

Mike shrugged as he picked up the clippings that Harry created as he trimmed the shrubs. "This is common in the summer, but we don't do it every week." He pointed to the other side of the lawn. "Several men from the church show up to help or to direct us. The Curate usually shows up too, but I don't see him today."

"Still, it doesn't seem so bad," commented Harry.

"Yeah, it's normally not all that bad, really. Sometimes you even learn something. I got to learn a little plumbing when I helped fix a faucet a couple of months ago." Mike packed down the bag of leaves. "Not sure that's what I want to do when I leave here, but Richy, the plumber I was helping, made it sound like it paid well enough."

"Oh, you think they have us do this to learn a trade?" Harry asked.

"Well, you won't learn one here, but," Mike smiled knowingly, "you'll be shown some while you're here."

Harry considered that and could see the positives. It made him wonder why Hogwarts didn't bring in people to talk about their work during fifth year, or even at the end of second year before they picked their electives for third year. He could have used a lot more information than what he'd had. It was also now plain to him that he'd been an idiot for listening only to Ron about what electives to take.

Hearing a noise, Harry looked over to see a man working on what looked to be a grill. "What's he doing?"

Mike looked over too. "Probably getting ready for dinner. They'll probably give us sandwiches for lunch, but when the weather is nice, they usually light the grill and we get burgers and hot dogs before we get a movie."

Harry helped pick up the last of the leaves while Mike held the bag. "I can't tell you how much better this is than where I grew up other than 'lots'."

"The building is old, the Sisters are strict, there's lot you can't do, you almost never get to wear the same clothes the cool kids do, the public school's pretty rundown too, but you have the necessities and you don't have to worry about a stranger trying to take advantage of you in exchange for your next meal," commented Mike matter-of-factly as he tied up the full bag.

— — —

Harry was feeling pretty comfortable after two burgers as he walked into the "living room" of the orphanage. There was a screen against a wall with some chairs taking up most of the space; a handful of bean bags were in front. He spied two sofas along the back and headed to one.

Just as he was sitting down on the left side, he was pushed slightly and ended up falling onto the middle cushion. He looked over to who'd done that just as Elizabeth hopped up onto the sofa and into the left seat.

"You weren't leaving room for me," she said a little imperiously.

He blinked at her as he tried to figure out how to respond.

"It's not nice to leave your little sister out," she told him as she moved over and sat against his left side, snuggling in.

Harry couldn't help the amusement he felt, which was echoed by his other companion.

"I normally wouldn't share, but I suppose I can make an exception," Catrin said with a tone of long-suffering, despite her playful look. She sat on Harry's right side and put a bowl of popcorn in his lap and held another glass of the punch they'd had for dinner. She snuggled into his right side.

Knowing that Sister Theresa was right behind them in a chair, Harry put his arms on the back of the sofa around both girls, making sure it was obvious he wasn't doing anything to them.

"Don't worry," Catrin whispered, "act natural like nothing is happening and she won't say anything - probably."

"You've done this before?" he asked quietly.

"Once, with Will. We're just friends, but I was sad that night, and it made the movie a little better," she told him as if it was no big deal.

"Do you know what movie this is?" he asked, trying or another topic, not quite sure what to do with her comment.

"Sister Claire said it was 'Star Wars'," Elizabeth told them, proving she was listening to them.

"Good, I've heard about it but I've never seen it," he told them.

"Really?" Catrin said, moving her head off his shoulder so she could look at him.

"Me either," Elizabeth chimed in.

Harry ignored the little girl's bad grammar and said, "It happens," with a shrug.

The movie started and everyone in the room quieted down for a moment. When the words at the beginning started to scroll across the screen, Elizabeth asked, "What does it say?"

Several of the boys who were about ten or so started to read the intro out loud for the younger kids.

Harry just sat back and enjoyed the movie. He did have to move his left arm to eat the popcorn and drink occasionally, but Elizabeth seemed to understand and let him, although she did stay snuggled into him and ate a little herself.

When Darth Vader silenced the Imperial Officer with a wave of his hand and choked him as punishment, Harry wondered if he could do that too. He'd been practicing his control over air in the evenings, sometimes even leaning in his window at night and trying to control things outside with air. He was getting better, but felt he still had a lot more to learn. He felt sure that one day he'd be able to lift a person.

By the end of the movie, Harry was cheering with everyone else when the Death Star blew up. He thought he understood now why the kids in his primary school had talked about it; even Dudley had liked it.

When everyone stood to go to bed, Harry kissed Elizabeth on the top of the head. "Good-night."

"Thanks, Harry! You're the best big brother ever!" She squeezed him around the waist and then ran off with her friends to go to bed.

Catrin grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the kitchen as he carried the empty bowl with their empty glass in it. The two of them put their dishes in the sink to be washed with the breakfast dishes tomorrow. "Let's go out to the playground since we have a little longer before we have to go to bed."

Harry let her lead him out and they sat in the swings. A few others came out and sat in the chairs by the door and talked. He could see Sister Claire at the window watching over them all.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes as they swung.

"That was a lot of fun," Harry said finally. "I'm glad I was able to see it."

"I still can't believe you hadn't seen it before," she told him.

"It hadn't worked out," he said with a shrug, not sure what else to say. He couldn't tell her not being able to see any movies for ten months of the year for the last five years.

She stopped swinging and looked at him more seriously. "Do you really have to leave at the end of August?"

He stopped swinging too as he tried to puzzle out what she was thinking. "Yes, why?"

Catrin looked away and started swinging again - slowly. "You're the first boy that's really nice and has treated me … nice too."

A little shocked, Harry stared at her. "Seriously?"

"Yep," she said shortly and started to swing a little higher, still not looking at him.

"I don't understand. You're pretty and fun and … I don't know, nice to be around. Sorry, I'm really bad at talking with girls sometimes. I had kind of hoped, well," he fumbled for a moment, "I had hope that since you were so nice that you could help me understand girls a little better."

She dropped her feet and slid to a stop as she looked at him for a moment before she burst out laughing. "You're not supposed to understand us,"' she said after she regained control of herself.

"OK," he said finally, "maybe not understand, but learn how to act around girls. I've never been good at that."

Catrin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'll help you if you'll continue to be nice to me. A lot of the boys at school don't treat me very well. They think that because I live at an orphanage that I'll … well, they aren't very nice."

Harry could guess what she was trying to tell him. It made him a bit angry, but there wasn't much he could do about them trying to get her to do things for them either. He could do one thing though. "I'll make you a deal. You help me learn how to act around a girlfriend and I'll show you how I think a gentleman behaves. Then when you go back to school, you'll know the good from the bad."

"I think I can usually figure that out myself," she told him. "The good don't say nasty things to me."

"Then what can I do for you?" he asked, wanting to give her something in return.

"Be a good boyfriend for the summer, and," her voice dropped to a whisper, "kiss me a few times."

He couldn't help but grin at her. "I think I get the better deal here, but I can do that."

She only smiled at him and started swinging again.

A few minutes later, Sister Claire called everyone in. Once inside, Catrin led him towards the stairs through the kitchen instead of through the living room as everyone else had walked.

Pulling him to the side, she threw her arms around his neck and whispered, "We won't have long." She leaned the rest of the way forward and kissed him softly on the lips for maybe the count of five before pulling back and smiling at him.

Harry grabbed her hand as she smiled at her and they strolled slowly to the stairs to find Sister Claire giving them a disapproving look. She said nothing about them being slow. "Mr Potter, you can attend the service with us tomorrow morning at nine or at eleven. Which would you prefer?"

"Err, nine, if I may," he answered.

"Very well, off to your own bedrooms," she told them.

Still holding her hand, they walked up side by side. At the top, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, causing her to giggle a little. "Thank you for the evening and the movie. Pleasant dreams."

"Good-night," she told him, ignoring the nun as she walked off.

"Good-night," he called after her. As she went through the door to the girl's area, he looked at the nun. "Good evening as well, Sister Claire."

Her stern looked softened as she bid him good night.

After using the bathroom, he changed in his room and turned off his light; but he didn't go to bed immediately. As he had last night, he leaned in the window and looked out. With a little bit of effort, he caused a single medium-sized limb to move on the big tree.

Hedwig winged over from her perch to the window sill and gave him a soft sound that he took as encouragement.

With more effort, he was able to make only a single small limb move. "I'll master this yet," he told his owl with a soft caress before he went to bed.

* * *

The next morning, Harry ate a quick breakfast and was leaving as most of the other kids came to breakfast. Three of the other kids joined him as Sister Claire escorted them out to the street and over to the church.

Inside, Harry saw about ninety or so other people as the five from the orphanage sat in the back of the half full room. It wasn't hard to generally follow along, standing or sitting when everyone else did. He didn't know any of the songs, so he just listened. The sermon didn't make much sense to him, other than one quote, but he listened anyway.

At the end, he filed out with the rest, shaking the hand of the man who gave the sermon as he stood at the door.

Sister Claire introduced him. "Curate Riley, this is our newest resident, Harry Potter."

"Mr Potter," said the jovial man in his thirties as he vigorously shook Harry's hand. "It's good to meet you. I had hoped to meet you yesterday, but I was unavailable. I'll come talk to you sometime this week, if that's all right with you?"

"Err, sure, Curate," he said, hoping that was the correct way to address him or that it was at least acceptable.

"Excellent!" The man turned to the girl behind him. "Patricia, it's always good to see you."

Harry took that as his cue that he should move along. A few minutes later, the four of them plus the nun were together on the sidewalk and they went back to the orphanage.

"Did you like it, Harry?" the woman asked as they walked.

"Well, to tell the truth, I've never been to church before. It was, a little hard to understand what was going on most of the time, but I liked the music. It was … peaceful," he decided finally.

She nodded and smiled at him. "I like it too."

The rest of the day was spent relaxing. The only chores done were in relation to the meals.

Harry and Catrin spend most of their free time together, talking quietly. She asked him about his one date that didn't go so well. With much hesitation, he told her about his date with Cho, leaving out all references to magic. She shook her head and then slowly explained to him why it had been such a disaster for him and what he should have done instead.

At the end, he realized Hermione had tried to tell him most of that too, but for some reason, it made more sense when Catrin told him. Or maybe, it was because he was thinking more clearly lately. Whatever, he vowed to himself not to be as insensitive to girls in the future … as much as he could anyway.

— — —

Albus Dumbledore called, "Enter!" when he heard the knock on his door. He was still staring at all the little parts from the smashed devices on his desk when his Deputy sat down in front of him.

"Still no luck?" she asked, gesturing at the pieces.

"No," he admitted as he looked up at her. "It seems to be a futile effort. I'm starting to believe that Harry vanished some of the parts when he destroy the instruments. Unfortunately, I didn't build these, so I'm not sure how to recreate them. The only one to survive was on a different shelf and was untouched. Sadly, all it does is tell me that he's alive. I don't know what his condition is or where he is."

"Moody has found nothing then?"

"I'm afraid not," he told her. "At this point, I believe all we can do it hope and pray that Harry is safe and arrives at the railroad station on the first. We shall, of course, have people stationed there to make sure he's safe once he arrives."

McGonagall pursed her lips looking very unhappy. "There's nothing else to be done?"

"I'm open to suggestions," he told her as he pulled out his wand and moved all the silver pieces into a box, which he placed into a drawer.

"I have none, I was merely hoping," she admitted with a hint of frustration before her expression turned steely. "He's never returning to that foul family ever again, is he?"

"It would appear not," he replied slowly and with regret. "It truly was the safest place - magically. Once we verify Harry owns it, Sirius's place will have to do now, even with the slim possibility of betrayal that could happen, whether by Kreacher or by a member who's a traitor and we haven't detected him or her yet."

"There are ways to prevent that," she said pointedly.

"I believe that would cause more harm to the group than we'd receive good from it," he replied. "No, we shall have to make do with what we have."

McGonagall's lips thinned unhappily, but she dropped the subject. "What will you do this coming year? It's obvious he doesn't trust you, and maybe not any of us, if he hasn't sent a letter."

Albus sighed as he considered it. He had told the boy too much and yet too little. "It will work out. Harry may be a little upset now, but he's good inside. I have faith it will work out."

She didn't look like she believed him, but she nodded once anyway as she rose. "I'll be back in a few days. I need to finish the family business that was interrupted last week."

"Have a safe trip," he told her. As she left, he turned to some parchment that had stacked up for him while he was gone and started on it. Harry was a good lad, he thought, he'll come around.

* * *

As Paige waited on Harry to join her, she promised herself she would be as observant as possible.

"Hi," Harry told her quietly as he joined her, closing the door behind him.

"Hi, Harry, have a seat. How has your first week here been?"

"Brilliant. I wished I'd grown up here," he replied.

"I'm glad that's working out for you," she told him with a smile. "Do you have anything to say about our last conversation? Perhaps any insights you've had?"

He considered what to share. "Yes," he said finally. "I need to grow up. I didn't do very well last year, but I think I'm close now. I need to act like I want the adults around me to be. I expect I'll be disappointed at times, but I have to try."

Paige raised an eyebrow. "That's very mature, Harry. Do you think you can?"

"I think so," he told her a little hesitantly. "I think the only trouble I'll have is when I'm treated like a child still. I think maybe that was part of my problem last year. The adults wanted me to act like an adult, but they treated me like a child."

"A few years ago was easy; a few years from now will be easy too; it's the transition that's so difficult," she stated and watched him consider that.

"I think you may be right," he admitted.

"What are you going to do when that happens?" she asked carefully, waiting to see if violence was any part of his answer.

He shrugged. "I haven't totally figured that out yet. All I can think about right now is to just ignore them."

"Walking away from fights is always a good thing," she said, pleased with his answer.

Harry looked at her for a moment. "Always? There's never a time to give them the fight they want? What if they push me in ways that a normal person wouldn't?" He balled his right fist.

She sighed. "I know that might happen even when it never should. What do you think you'd do?"

After a long moment he relaxed and said, "I'm not sure I understood when he said it, but the Curate said in his sermon something like an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I think that applies to your question. I'll defend myself and they should be prepared to receive what they throw at me."

"That can make life very difficult, Harry. Adults have power over children. Have you considered going to another teacher?" She was dismayed by his reaction even as she tried to hide that.

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes at her. "That's not been a good strategy for me, because sometimes it's the ones in charge that are the most hurtful because they have the most power. No, I think I'll let them know that I'm not going to take nonsense from them, and then try to ignore them; then if they try to hurt me, I'll protect myself." He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think that might work. Thanks!" he told her with a grin.

It was all Paige could do to just sit there for a moment. That was not the conclusion she was trying to lead him to. "Harry…"

"Yeah, that'll work," he said, still grinning broadly. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Paige glanced at her watch and saw she still had half of her time remaining, but thought she needed help to deal with this. Perhaps her mentor had an idea. Then she considered one last question. "Harry, aren't there any adults that in your life outside of these walls that you could go to?"

"You, Miss Rodgers, the Curate probably. But at school where it's the worst?"

He considered that for so long she was starting to become very afraid for him.

"There might be two teachers in the whole school who could do something to help me, maybe. Otherwise, no, everyone above me isn't that trustworthy."

"Harry, where do you go to school," she asked with worry.

"Some place you've never heard of. If I told you the name it wouldn't mean anything - it's an old, traditional school that doesn't advertise at all. But don't worry, I've only got two years left there and I don't think they'll be so bad now. You see, they need me more than I need them and they want me there, so I can always threaten to leave. I could always come back here and I don't think they could find me … maybe."

That made Paige feel a little better. She really needed to talk to her mentor. "Why don't you run along. I'll see you next Tuesday, all right?"

"Sure. Thanks for the help, Miss Paige."

As Harry left, she slowly closed her notebook and turned off her recorder. She was stumped about what to do to show him that violence wasn't the answer. There was also the fact that she didn't see any "unusual wind" today, making her wonder if she'd imagined it last time.

— — —

That evening, Harry looked out his window and saw a football that had been left out. It took some effort, but by the time he went to bed, he was able to roll it around on ground without kicking up a dust storm. His control of the air was getting better and that pleased him.

* * *

A week later, Harry walked into Sister Claire's office and found his counselor waiting for him. "Miss Paige," he said with a nod as he closed the door before taking his seat.

"It's good to see you again, Harry. How has the last week been?"

He shrugged as he noticed the recorder was present again; its little red light lit. "Fairly good; I've nothing to complain about."

"Sister Claire tells me you attended services with her. How was that?" she asked.

Harry thought she was trying to be neutral but he could tell she didn't approve for some reason. "It was fine. Didn't make a lot of sense to me at times, but I liked the music."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Everyone has different tastes," he said when he realized she probably didn't like the music and maybe not the church either.

"Are you making friends here?"

"Yeah, they're all pretty easy to get along with," he replied … like a bunch of Hufflepuffs, he thought.

"You're keeping out of trouble?"

It hit him then that she and Sister Claire must talk about him. "Of course. I even stopped a fight between two of the little kids."

"That's good to hear." Paige looked at him for a moment. "Harry, if you were to see your aunt and uncle right now, what would you do?"

Harry considered what to tell her for a moment as he thought seriously about the question. When he saw a strand of her hair move, he closed his eyes and reigned in his power quickly. Opening his eyes, he saw her looking at him strangely.

"Probably best that I don't see them," he told her. "I'd really like see my uncle lose his job over this, and my aunt become the laughing stock of the neighborhood, and my cousin forced into counselling like this for a couple of years … but I probably wouldn't do anything to them if they left me alone. I think that's the most important thing, I never want to see them again - ever."

"What if you had to see them in the courtroom?" She looked at him curiously.

"Miss Rogers said their trial won't be for a few months, so it doesn't really matter since I never will see that," he told her as he leaned back in his chair. "Either they go to jail or they don't. I don't plan to be there to find out. They're only part of my past not my future."

"But…"

"I won't be there, I'll be at school," he told her matter-of-factly in a tone that said there was no other answer possible.

Paige didn't look pleased. "Because you'll be at your very private school?"

He raised an eyebrow at her obviously frustrated question. "Exactly."

"I've looked at your records," she told him after a moment. "There's nothing about you after your fifth year of primary school. Yet, here you are."

"If I could stay at school year 'round I would, then you never would have met me," he told her, doing his best to keep calm.

"Why the secrecy?" she pushed.

Harry contained his annoyance and power as much as he could as he leaned forward and picked up the recorder and pushed the off button to make the red light turn off before placing it back on the desk to her obvious annoyance.

"I really can't answer that and you would be wise to forget about my school. After this summer, you'll probably never see me again as I'll be away from England." He felt that was a good way to explain it so that she'd understand.

"But…"

"Miss Paige!" he growled and she shut up and leaned away from him. "I would never hurt you or anyone here; that's not the type of person I am. However, I know people at my very private school who care enough to maintain the privacy that they might not be so nice to you if you were to find them.

"I know you're thinking you've got to save me from people like that, but you'd be in way over your head. They're too high up in the government and too powerful." He sighed and shook his head for a brief moment as he hoped she thought he meant the Muggle government. "Look, you're a nice person and I like you. Please take my advice and forget this conversation about my school. Let the records show that I go to a school outside of England that was arranged by my birth parents and leave it at that. I promise you that no good will come from you or anyone else trying to learn more and I can't protect you."

He watched her digest that and she didn't look happy. Knowing nothing useful could probably happen with the rest of their session, he stood and turned her recorder back on. "If you really want to help me, find me a book on helping me to control my emotions. I had a professor tell me that if I could clear my mind to clear away my emotions, I could think better and stay out of trouble, at least mostly." He finished on a grin that she did not return. "You don't need to spend much; a used book will do as long as it's truly helpful."

Harry moved to the door. "I'll see you next week if you decide to come back." Closing the door, he walked to the playground in the back. Maybe walking a few laps around it would help. He could also play with the air and wind out there without anyone noticing.

During his walking, he realized he only had about six weeks left here; perhaps he needed to start planning. Turning at the corner of the yard, he looked up and saw the window to his room. It reminded him that he was on the corner of the building and his window was very near the fence between the playground and the street. That gave him an idea, one that he'd have to start training for.

— — —

Paige sat in her car and gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white. She'd screwed up plain and simple. She'd fixated on an issue and then pushed so hard he'd turned on her. She had to hope she hadn't lost too much of the rapport she'd built with him.

Thinking back to her conversation, she tried to remember if she had felt the air moving with him this time, but honestly, she was so frightened of him for that moment when he'd leaned forward with such intensity she wondered if his green eyes were glowing.

She was also in a little internal turmoil over what to do about him. Part of her thought just like he had said, that she had to get him away from danger and from whoever might push him into violence. Yet another part of her just wanted to run away. Paige thought she'd always understood the difference between a threat and a warning, now she wasn't so sure.

Looking at the orphanage once last time before leaving, she saw Harry walking around the playground and smiling with a girl who looked about his age. He didn't look that upset now.

So was it an actual warning or was he a sociopath with no morals threatening her?

— — —

Late that evening after a quick good night kiss from Catrin, Harry stood in the middle of his room with his owl watching him carefully.

With effort, he willed the air to be as dense as possible and saw a white brick form maybe 30cm off the ground. Very carefully, he stepped on it and his foot sank very slowly through it. Annoyed at the failure, he tried again, this time with more effort, a little anger even. This time, it looked more solid and when he stepped on it, it held him.

Harry smiled as he literally stood in the air - for a few seconds. His good feelings fell as quickly as he did, causing him to take care to land lightly. His room was over Sister Claire's office, and while he didn't think she was still up and working, he didn't want her or any of the other Sisters asking what he was doing because he didn't want to lie to them.

Resting for a few moments, he tried again. An hour later, a tired Harry climbed into bed feeling pleased with himself; he could now hold two bricks of air at the same time while he stood one foot on each.

* * *

Harry was helping Catrin take inventory of the food in the pantry before the weekly shopping was done. When they thought no one was looking, they'd kiss ; they both thought it was a fun and innocent game.

When he noticed the time, he told her. "Hey, I gotta go talk to Miss Paige."

"Do you think she'll really show up again? You said she was upset with you last time," Catrin asked.

"Only one way to find out," he told her with a grin and a last second kiss before walking towards Sister Claire's office only a couple of minutes late.

He wasn't surprised to find the counselor there; he didn't think she'd have given up easily. He was very curious as to what she'd say after last time. "Miss Paige," he said evenly as he closed the door and took his seat.

"Harry," she returned with a smile that looked a little forced. "I'm glad you're still willing to talk to me." She reached forward and pressed the button her recorder and the little red light lit. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that something strange happened last time and it seems that I forgot to press the record button and I didn't take any useful notes. So I hope you don't mind if we repeat our last session so I have a good record of your progress."

It was all he could do not to smirk. If that was how she wanted to play it, he was fine with it. "Of course, mistakes happen," he told her graciously - he could afford to be.

"I did happen to remember one little thing you did say." She pulled out a slim book and handed it to him.

He saw it was titled, "Meditation to Inner Peace" by a Dr Zair. Inside the front cover he saw an inscription. "To Harry, may you find your peace," along with a signature that looked like it started with a "Z" but was otherwise unreadable. He looked at her questioningly.

"It was written by my mentor in my graduate program. He gave it to me and signed it as well." She smiled at him. "That probably doesn't make it worth any more, but he was pleased to be able to help you."

"Please tell him thank you for me."

"Of course. Now, what little I remember from last time, I asked you about your relatives. How would you feel if you saw them again, say in a courtroom?"

Harry answered her questions again, trying to make them the same as last time. When the topic came up that he would be at school if they went to trial, she left that topic alone and asked about his long term thoughts, if it was possible for him to ever forgive them.

They continued talking and at the end of the session, she smiled and told him as she turned the recorder off, "I appreciate your patience with my error last week."

"We all make mistakes," he replied.

"I noticed as I was leaving last week that a young woman was with you out back. A girlfriend?"

Harry couldn't help his smile and looking down for a moment. "Something like that. We're … good friends enjoying a summer together. We both know it's not serious."

"That sounds very normal," she commented while looking at him very closely.

"Being as normal as possible is one of my main goals for the next couple of years, maybe even a lot longer. I just want to be Harry and nothing else," he said honestly.

"I'll see if I can help you with that. Until next week," she said as she left.

"Next week, Miss Paige," he agreed, feeling much better about her than last week, yet still wishing he could get away with Obliviating her.

* * *

At the end of August, Harry finished dinner that evening and helped a little with cleanup, as he usually did. His real chore was cleaning up after breakfast, which was useful as he could save scraps of meat for Hedwig as treats before she slept for the day.

Afterward, he played with Elizabeth and her friends for a little bit before they started their normal Saturday night movie. She joined him on the couch along with Catrin, like the three of them had done all summer.

He had really enjoyed "The Princess Bride" and was pleased to hear that it was based on a book. He told himself he'd have to find a copy to read from somewhere.

At the end of the movie, the nuns were sending the younger kids to bed but Harry held Elizabeth back for a moment. "Hey, please don't be loud, but I need to tell you good-bye."

The little girl looked at him for a moment before she threw her arms around his neck as they sat on the couch. "You're the best big brother ever," she said fiercely.

"If I had a little sister I'd want her to be just like you," Harry returned, hugging her as well.

"Will I ever see you again?" She didn't let go of him.

"Probably, but I won't live here again. If you need help, you find Catrin, OK?"

"Promise you'll come back?"

"If there's any way I can, I'll come back for a visit," he promised.

Elizabeth finally let go of him with tears running down her cheeks. "I'll miss you," she told him before she turned and ran for her room.

Harry shook his head as he stood. Catrin grabbed his hand and pulled him out to the playground in back and to the swings, their usual destination after a movie; neither said anything as they walked.

A light fog had come in after dinner making the streetlights and the moon a little fuzzy but that didn't stop them from being out there.

"So, this is the end of your time here?" Catrin half-asked half-stated.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I have to go tomorrow."

She nodded before looking around. Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the swing and led him over to the biggest tree and behind it so they wouldn't be visible from the door. "Kiss me, make it count," she demanded as she grabbed his head in her hands.

They snogged for several minutes and her hands started to wander.

Harry pulled back and looked at her. "Please don't."

She looked down and nodded once. "I said this wouldn't be serious, but I wished it was now."

Caressing the side of her face, he told her, "I understand. I like you a lot, but this is it. I'm really … really sorry."

She kissed him again until they heard their names a few minutes later.

As they broke apart, Harry grinned. "We're so going to be in trouble for this."

"It won't matter to you and I don't care either," she told him. "But you're right that we need to go in." With a heavy sigh, she grabbed his hand and they walked back to the building to see Sister Claire looking quite displeased with them.

"Please don't blame her," Harry said quickly. "I wanted to talk privately for a few minutes, something that's hard to do here."

The nun obviously didn't believe him, based on her expression. A shout from behind her caused her to look at two of the pre-teen boys wrestling on the floor. "Go to your rooms, we'll discuss this tomorrow."

Catrin grinned until they reached the top of the stairs and saw Sister Mary there, looking at them with a raised eyebrow. It was obvious to him that Catrin had wanted one last kiss.

"Good-night, my princess." Harry kissed the back of her hand, causing the girl to giggle, before he left for his room.

It didn't take long for him to pack everything in his trunk, except for what he needed until he left in the morning. He also opened his window completely so he wouldn't make noise in the morning; it'd be cool but not too bad tonight.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	3. The Start of a New Life

(A/N: So, we're back at Hogwarts with this chapter. The last chapter might have been seen as some pleasant fun, but it was where several changes were started that will have an impact on the rest of the story, starting with this chapter. For all those who like Elizabeth, she will return in a later chapter. I hope you enjoy the extra long chapter.)

 **Chapter 3 - The Start of a New Life**

Harry's alarm went off so early it was still dark outside. It wouldn't be dark for long, so he hurried out of bed, heading to the bathroom. He'd left his pajamas on in case one of the nuns was already up; he saw no one else so he didn't have to pretend to have a late night need.

Back in his room, he dressed and packed the last of his things, including Hedwig's cage which was a tight fit. His wand went into his pocket. He left two notes on his bed: one to Sister Claire and one for Miss Paige.

Looking at his owl, he petted her lovingly. "Fly to school, Hedwig. I'll be there this evening." He watched her wing away into the morning fog, weather he was grateful for this morning.

Hefting his trunk to the window, he set it on the sill. Concentrating, he compressed air under the trunk and lifted it a little. Taking care not to bump anything, he moved it out the window then over the fence before lowering it to the sidewalk.

Climbing onto the sill, he created two large bricks in the air, something he could hold with only a little thought now. He stepped onto the bricks and then created a third in front of him. Moving forward, creating more steps as he needed and letting the ones behind him dissipate, he walked down his "air-stairs" over the fence and to the ground next to his trunk.

Pleased with himself, he picked up his trunk by the handle and lifted it with air, making it a fraction of its normal weight. He started walking; he had plenty of time and a general idea of where he was going, towards a tall building in the distance that he knew was near the Leaky Cauldron. If he became pressed for time, he'd call the Knight Bus, but he didn't really think he'd need to.

— — —

He'd been walking for several hours, arriving at the Leaky Cauldron a little after eight, which was what he'd scheduled. Head down, he slipped past the barman as Tom was looking away and headed to the back. Several taps later he was in Diagon Alley.

His first stop was Gringotts. The bank was open, as he'd hoped. Inside, he asked to be taken to his vault. The teller looked at him and asked for his key. After holding it a moment, the teller whispered, "You have other business with us, Mr Potter."

Harry was glad the goblin had been discreet. There was only one other wizard in the lobby, thankfully it seemed like he hadn't heard Harry's name. A nod caused the goblin to wave for him to follow before he walked to an office.

A few minutes later, an older goblin came in with some parchment.

"Mr Potter, we've been trying to find you, but no owls would take our notices. We were starting to wonder if you were still alive."

"I, err, didn't really want to be found this last summer," he said hesitantly, wondering if his magic had acted on his unconscious desire not to be found.

The goblin nodded. "That explains it then." He put a long piece of parchment on the table. "Sign on the bottom and the vault key is yours."

Harry looked at the parchment for a moment as he reached for the quill, but stopped after reading the first paragraph. "This is Sirius's will!"

"Sign the parchment acknowledging receipt of his vault," the goblin said a little more forcefully, as if speaking to a particularly dim child.

Harry skimmed the document quickly and saw it was only the will and nothing else. He hurriedly signed the bottom as the goblin scowled at the delay.

Passing the key over along with a copy of the document, the goblin said, "The contents from his personal vault have been merged into the Black family vault. You have full access and control over it."

"Does anyone else have access to it?" Harry asked.

"No. Was there any other business with Gringotts today?"

"Err, I think I'd like to visit the vault," Harry told him.

The goblin nodded and rose, saying nothing. Outside the little room, a much younger goblin was called over and told to take Harry to his new vault.

A few minutes later, Harry was standing in the doorway to a good-sized vault, easily four times the size of his first vault. There was money, gems, and jewelry - no surprise there. What he did find surprising was Sirius's motorcycle; Harry assumed Sirius had retrieved it from Hagrid and put it in the vault as his godfather probably had no other place to store it.

To save himself a trip to his own vault, he found a bag and scooped enough Galleons into it to hold him for a while.

He was about to leave when he saw a trunk, probably Sirius's school trunk. Opening it, he saw all the normal items he had in his own trunk, confirming it was from someone's Hogwarts days. Digging through it, he saw a journal with Sirius's name on it. The multiple locks on the front indicated that it was a three compartment trunk; he found two of the compartments were empty.

With a grin, he emptied the contents of his trunk into Sirius's and then left his old trunk in the vault. He'd have to put new privacy charms on this trunk, but he thought this new trunk had been a great find.

Back in the lobby of the bank, he changed some Galleons into Pounds money and put that into his trunk before leaving, now nearly a half hour behind schedule. He'd have to hurry. Fortunately, the shops were all now open.

Ordering new school robes didn't take long, thankfully. Potions supplies were easy; while he didn't plan to take the class with Snape, having potion supplies was always useful. A fast stop at Ollivandars and he had a wand holder on his wrist. The longest stop was the bookstore. Asking for help because he didn't have his list, he grabbed the standard 6th year books for the classes he planned to take plus a few for Runes, which he hoped he could take. He even stopped by the Owl Emporium to get some treats for Hedwig. Stopping by Madam Malkin's again, he picked up his clothing order, finishing his shopping in record time.

Only a few minutes late now, he hurried through the Leaky Cauldron and out to the street. A Muggle taxi took him to King's Cross Station such that he arrived a little after ten, only a few minutes past his target. He wanted to be early to avoid certain people for as long as possible.

He knew multiple confrontations were inevitable today; confrontations about his summer and some of his choices, especially his choice to start acting like an adult and wanting to be treated as such.

Head down, he hurried through the station and onto the magical train, grabbing the cabin at the end. He was pleased that he hadn't been stopped by anyone on the way in.

Settled in, Harry decided to try something he'd been wondering all morning since his meeting with the Goblins. If he had been given Sirius's vault, did that mean he'd received everything else? "Kreacher!" he called with the thought of summoning the elf.

At the count of five, a pop sounded and the elf arrived. "Nasty half-blood master finally called?"

Harry was a little surprised that had worked. He had very mixed feelings on what to do next. Struggling, he resisted the urge to tell the elf to go put his head on the wall for contributing to Sirius's death; after all, the elf could be useful to him. "Kreacher, I order you to never insult me again."

The elf clearly didn't like that order, as evidenced by his delayed nod and not saying anything.

"Is anyone living in the house now?"

"No, m-master," the elf ground out after a long moment.

There was something about the answer that gave Harry pause. "Has anyone been there recently?"

"Nasty thief has been."

"Was anything taken?" Harry had never had a high opinion of Fletcher and the man stealing from him brought that opinion to a new low.

"Kreacher doesn't think so, but is not sure."

Harry considered that for a moment and had to work to maintain his temper, going through a brief meditation exercise. "Very well, here are your new orders. First, you are to return to the house and lock it in such a way that only you and I can enter … just the two of us, or someone that I bring in while holding their hand. Is that clear? Can you do that?"

The elf nodded.

"Second, this evening, you are to find Thief Fletcher. Search him and search his house for anything that belongs to the Blacks. If you find something that was stolen, you are to take it back to the house. You may not kill him, but you have my permission to be unpleasant if that's the only way you can make him behave."

Kreacher grinned, or so Harry thought that's what the horrible look was.

"Maybe nasty master isn't so bad, " Kreacher croaked before clamping his hand over his mouth and hitting himself with his other hand.

Harry commanded him, "Stop," at the third hit. He suspected Kreacher was used to that and the elf deserved some punishment for what he'd done to Sirius. "Third, after you have done those two things, you will come to Hogwarts and work in the kitchens so that you are close by if I need you. There, you will not talk to anyone other than me and the other elves. You will also not hurt anyone without my permission. Do you understand?"

"Yes, master," Kreacher replied, not quite as happy now.

"Go, starting with the house. I'll call you when I need you." Harry watched the elf pop away and hoped he'd done the right thing with the elf. He was sure he'd done the right thing with the house. No one would be taking advantage of him if he had anything to say about it.

— — —

Sister Claire knocked on Harry's door. When he didn't answer, she gently turned the knob and found it unlocked. Looking inside, she saw it was clean and the bed made. Two letters on the bed were the only thing that indicated it had been occupied recently.

Picking up the one with her name on it, she read it.

 _Sisters,_

 _Thank you so much for taking me in and letting me stay here for the summer. It has been the best summer that I can remember. I will find a way to repay you one day. I shall not be returning to live with you again, but I do hope to visit some time._

 _I still don't know what to think about church, but I'll still give you the Curate's favorite closing phrase: May God bless you and keep you. You all have a heart of gold to take care of orphans._

 _Harry_

Claire had to brush a tear from her eye as she finished reading. She also said a prayer for him and his safety. She'd pass the second letter to Miss Paige when she saw her next, or perhaps she'd give it to Miss Rogers to pass along when she notified Social Services that Harry had left.

— — —

As he walked through the portal and onto Platform 9 & 3/4, Remus Lupin scanned the area quickly. "It's only twenty after and it looks like we made it here first," he said as he looked around more carefully now.

Alastor Moody searched also as he moved the two of them back a little towards a wall. "Aye, I don't see him on the platform either, but let me look on the train." His magical eye focused on the train for a moment before he chuckled. "Potter beat us here."

"Where?" Lupin looked startled.

"Last cabin on the train." As Lupin started forward, the old Auror's hand shot out and grabbed younger man's arm. "Wait a minute, laddie. Are you really sure that's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Lupin protested incredulously.

"He had the ability to call for help this summer, but didn't. That doesn't sound like someone who's looking for company," Moody pointed out.

"But he's on the train for school where he'll see all of his friends," Lupin argued back.

"Aye, but we're not his friends now, are we?"

Lupin's eyes narrowed. "Of course we're his friends."

Moody dropped his hand from the man's arm. "It's your choice; take your chances as you wish, but I'm stayin' right here unless he asks me over."

After a moment of thinking, Lupin nodded. "Back in a few minutes," he said, thinking to himself 'Mad-eye couldn't be right, could he?'

To save himself some time, the werewolf walked to the back of the train and climbed the stairs there. Going in the back door put him right outside where he wanted and he could see Harry sitting in the small cabin reading a slim book.

Knocking lightly once, the man opened the door as Harry looked up. Lupin was surprised at the neutral look he received. "Harry, I'm glad to see you."

"Mister Lupin," Harry said evenly.

Feeling the tension, the man stayed standing in the doorway. "Are you all right? We've been worried about you since you disappeared."

"I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"Where were you?" Lupin was becoming more surprised by the second with this conversation and Harry's reactions, or really non-reaction.

"I was in the Muggle world, where I was placed by your boss at the beginning of the summer."

"But _where_ were you?" He was growing a little exasperated at the short, if polite, answers.

"I had the most relaxing summer ever. All that was missing was Sirius."

Lupin hung his head. "I know, I miss him too." He studied the boy for a moment. He even tried to get a glimpse of the book that was obviously Muggle in origin, but couldn't make out anything because of the small print of what little he could see.

"You can tell everyone that I'm alive if you wish, or not. I don't particularly care."

"Harry," Remus said, his exasperation now complete, "what's gotten into you? You're acting like you hardly know me."

"If you think about it, I _don't_ really know you aside from being your student two years back. As for how I'm acting, how would any other person you barely know act after not seeing you for most of two years?"

"But…" Lupin started but couldn't figure out what to say next.

"I know, I could have written you last year, but I really didn't know you all that well. I couldn't write last year, thanks to the Ministry. Then again, why would it matter? I've never written any of my other former professors."

"I am a friend of your family," Lupin argued with a hint of fear about the outcome.

"Right, I must have forgotten all of those visits for the twelve years after my parents died. Silly me for having forgotten, I've probably forgotten about all the letters you wrote me, too."

Lupin dropped his head again at the accusations, made worse the droll way they were delivered without a hint of malice or smugness.

"Unless there's something else you needed to say, Mr Lupin, I'll wish you a good day."

He was so damned polite about it all too, Lupin thought. "Have a good day and a good year at school, Harry." Stepping back, he closed the door and exited the train, walking slowly back towards Moody.

"Didn't go so well?" Moody asked barely restraining his mirth as he continued to look around.

"At least he's safe," Lupin said as if trying to console himself. "I'll tell the others he's here and they can go home."

— — —

When Lupin closed the door, Harry sighed. Part of him had hated to do that, but he knew he was going to have to disappoint a number of people before his life got better. The sooner they saw that he was in control of his own life and not them, well, it'd be better for everyone.

Harry continued reviewing the book, having read it through at least three times and parts of it many more. He so wished Snape - or even Dumbledore - had given him this book last year instead of just shouting "Clear your mind" before attacking him. That certainly wouldn't be happening this year. He felt he could detect attacks pretty well now; defense was a little less certain, but he wasn't afraid of Snape any longer.

Tired of looking at the book since he felt he knew it, Harry put it away in his trunk and pulled out the Introduction to Runes book he'd purchased so he could review it. He really wanted to get into that class.

He'd just finished putting his trunk away again when the door was opened almost violently and he was almost hugged to death by a bushy-headed brunette. Being a little more experienced with girls than he was last June, with great emphasis on the "little" he thought, he returned her embrace. "Hey, Hermione, it's good to see you again."

She finally pulled back but then proceeded to hit him on the shoulder, though he caught her wrist by the third hit. "You prat, you made us worry so."

"I know, but it had to be that way."

"Explain," she commanded.

"As you wish," he said with a small smile as he thought about the movie he'd watched last night, "however, I think we should wait until the others get here so I only have to say it all once."

Despite the fact that she didn't look happy about that, she threw her arms around him and hugged him again.

"It'll be all right," he said, doing his best to reassure her as he patted her back.

After a moment, she told him, "I'm not so sure."

He grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back so he could look at her face. "Why do you say that?"

Hermione looked down for a moment, but she was saved from answering by the door opening again.

"Hello Harry," came the calm, almost dreamy voice of his quirky blonde friend.

"Hi Luna." He managed to disengage from Hermione, who stepped back a little, and he gave Luna a one-armed hug before he stepped back.

Luna looked at him for a moment, her gray-blue eyes piercing, before she gave him a genuine smile. "I'm glad to see that you've stopped hiding; now you can be the man you need to be … the person who will make you happy."

Harry hadn't been sure how to take her statement until she added the last part.

"Are you becoming the woman you need to be?" Harry asked, hoping that was the right thing to say in reply.

"I'm far enough down that path, but I don't think you're the one to take me the rest of the way. Although, I'm sure you'll make _some_ woman very happy one day," she told him before she sat down. "Could you get my trunk please?"

"Of course," he said and hurried to the task of lifting it to the upper rack, wondering if she'd asked for that favor to give him a moment to recover from his embarrassment as he worked out what she meant.

He sat down next to Hermione and looked at her. "You were saying a moment ago?"

Hermione looked at her hands for a moment. "Harry, you need to know that Ron's changed. He's not quite the friend you remember."

"Oh? What happened?"

"I don't want to give you any preconceived notions, but those brain things did something to him. Be patient with him and…" she looked at Luna for a moment before looking back at him. "Be careful, Harry; take it slowly."

"Hermione?" When she didn't say anything more, he looked over. "Luna, what's she talking about?"

Luna looked away from the window and at him. "Ronald is more than Ronald since the Rotfangs had their way with him."

"Huh?" His confusion would have to continue because the door opened again.

"Harry, good to see you. Hermione, Luna." Neville greeted all of them as he came in and put his trunk in the upper rack, which had some interesting space expansion charms to hold all of the trunks. "Did you have a good summer?"

Harry nodded, but before he could say anything, Hermione started talking about her summer trip through Italy as if there was no time for any other topic. In fact, she hardly let Luna or Neville get a word in either.

Just as Harry was about to do something, he wasn't sure quite what, to get her to stop talking so he could ask Neville about Ron, the door opened and stopped Hermione cold in mid-word. There stood Ron with Ginny right behind him.

Truthfully, Harry was a little relieved and stood for his greeting. "Ron, good to see you. You look like you're doing well."

Ron stood there impassively for a moment. "So you're back. Finally found a little time for the rest of us?" he said with a lot of snark.

His head jolted forward, courtesy of Ginny's hand to the back of his head. "Ron! Behave!" she hissed.

The tall redhead suddenly ducked his head. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "It's good to see you mate," Ron told him like he would have last year and as if the last quarter of a minute hadn't happened. He put his trunk up and looked around for where to sit.

Ginny pushed past him and gave Harry a hug. "Good to see you again, Harry. Good summer?" She sat down next to Hermione, which forced Ron to sit next to Neville after his trunk was put up. It was a bit crowded with three to a bench, but they managed.

Not sure what else to do, Harry grabbed Ginny's trunk and lifted it up before he sat on the other side of Hermione by the window as the train jerked to start rolling.

"Sorry we were so late," Ginny blithely went on. "Some prat," she gave a quick glare at her brother, "didn't start packing until this morning. But how was your summer?"

Ron looked like he was about to object, so Harry jumped in. "I had a very good summer, one of the best in some ways. Not so good in others, but you can't have everything I'm told."

"So what did happen?" Hermione asked before anyone could. "What we were told didn't make much sense and it seemed like no one knew what really happened."

He sighed, but he was prepared for this. "I don't plan to go into details, but my relatives have never liked magic nor anything to do with magic. I'm not quite sure what set them off and I really don't want to know, but well, they attacked me. I called the police, and my relatives went to jail. I stayed with some other Muggles who took me in and had a great summer."

"Did you lose your owl?" Ron asked a little sarcastically. Ginny kicked him in the shin as she sat across from her, getting a glare from his sister as he tried to give her a glare back.

"No," Harry said. "I didn't write in order to keep all of you, and me, safe."

"But the Order would have protected you," Hermione told him as if he should have known that.

"Ah, I think my opinion on the Order has changed a bit. To be clear, we're talking about the Order that abandoned us at the end of last year just before my godfather died? The same Order that wouldn't tell us anything helpful, that also contributed to Sirius's death? The Order that failed to protect me from a Dementor attack me summer a year ago? The Order that allowed the Ministry to attack me all last year at school and in the newspaper?" He held up his hand so they could see the scars of 'I must not tell lies'. "That Order?" He paused for a brief moment to calm himself.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but there's only two adults I trust in the Order right now and they're twins. There are a couple of others I might trust, in the right circumstances and with some promises, but in general, I wouldn't trust the Order to take my rubbish to the curb."

"What about us?" Neville asked quietly accepting Harry statement as the truth.

Harry smiled at him. "You five I trust." He saw Neville relax a little.

Hermione looked like she wanted to argue, but instead she stood up. "We can talk about it more later, but Ron and I have a meeting to attend now." She hurried out the door without waiting for Ron, who stood slowly and looked annoyed with his fellow prefect.

"Back later," he threw over his shoulder as he left, walking slowly and looking as if he'd rather go anywhere else.

When it was only the four of them, Harry looked around, but mostly at Ginny. "What happened to him?"

Neville looked interested in the answer too.

Ginny sighed and scrunched back in her seat, drawing her feet up and hugging her legs. "Do you remember the brain things that attacked Ron?"

"Err, yeah. Bella broke their case and they tried to get me. I tossed them away before I ran after her," Harry remembered.

"It's not your fault, Harry. For reasons he can't explain, Ron walked up to the brains," Ginny shook her head. "They grabbed his arms and attached themselves to him. He couldn't get them off and no one else realized what was happening to him until some time later. They did something to him that no one can really explain; that's why it took so long for him to come home from St Mungo's."

"I don't think they wanted you to know," Luna said into the silence after Ginny's explanation.

Ginny grimaced. "Knowing my mother, that's probably true."

"He seems more…" Harry wasn't sure he wanted to say anything bad about one of his first friends.

"He seemed angry and confused at times," Neville filled in, bolder than Harry, "but at the moment he seemed normal."

"Is he getting better?" Harry asked.

Ginny shrugged while looking at her knees, as if examining her jeans. "He's better than when he first came home, but I don't think he's changed much in the last couple of weeks. We try to keep him calm and correct him when we can. I'm honestly tired of it and am glad to be going back to school. I love my brother, but he's been a real handful this summer."

He wondered if there was more based on the fact that Ginny wouldn't look at him, but he had no idea what question to ask. Instead, he asked about what she had said. "I can't believe I'm asking this," Harry said hesitantly, "but should he be back at school? I can imagine what's going to happen when Malfoy or someone like that winds him up."

Ginny went still. "I don't know," she said softly. "I know Mum and Dad talked about that with Dumbledore, but they sent him back and Dumbledore let him keep the Prefect badge too."

"Maybe if we all help he can get better," Harry suggested.

"I'll help," Neville chimed in.

"Of course," Luna said when Harry looked at her.

"Thank you," Ginny told them fervently, finally looking up and appearing very relieved.

They talked about whatever came up for a while with Harry asking questions of the others about their summer and what they wanted to do this year.

Eventually, the conversation slowed and Harry stood. "Back in a few minutes."

Ginny stood quickly and followed. "I have to go too and I'll walk with you."

Harry thought that was a little unusual but forgot about it quickly. He was amused when she hurried past him into the little water closet first.

A few minutes later, Ginny came out. "I'll…" The door at the end of the car opened and Hermione came rushing in. "I'll go back with Hermione; thanks Harry." Ginny walked away and Hermione gave him a smile as she passed him.

Shaking his head at everyone's oddness, he took his turn in the little room. He heard Ron shouting something while walking past the water closet, making Harry wonder how this year was going to go. Finishing, he stepped out of the little room and ran into an attractive girl who was staring at him expectantly.

"Err, hi," Harry said, not sure what to do with her look. At least it wasn't the "gawker" look he so dreaded, nor did she seem upset with him; she seemed more determined than anything. "It's free if you want it." He held the door for her.

Susan Bones closed the door to the water closet and continued to look at him as her best friend Hannah and two others stood in the cabin doorway behind her. "Harry," she said softly, as if trying to control her voice, "you _are_ going to lead the DA this year again, aren't you?"

"I hadn't really planned on it."

"You have to," she said, her determination rising.

"Why?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You know why."

"I'm sorry; Susan, but I can't think why I'd want to do that. Did something important happen this summer?" He heard a hiss from her friends just before Susan reacted.

"You're mocking me!" She screamed at him as she moved forward and began pounding on his chest in frustration.

She wasn't slugging him as Hermione had done, so the flat handed pounding was more surprising than hurtful. Still, he grabbed her wrists by the fourth hit and held them. She continued to try to hit him even though he didn't let her.

"Wait!" he cried. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"How could you not have heard?!" she accused him angrily, still trying to pound on his chest and failing.

"I've been in the Muggle world all summer," he told her quickly. "I haven't seen a Daily Prophet since last June."

Susan froze and her pale blue eyes searched his green ones. Finding him sincere, she stopped struggling and burst into tears as she collapsed against him.

To Harry's surprise, he found himself holding her in his arms, rubbing her back. He hoped this was the thing to do, because Catrin had liked it. He hadn't had a clue about what to do with Cho when she'd been like this. Not sure what else to do, he looked over her shoulder at her best friend, giving her a pleading look.

"Death Eaters killed her aunt," Hannah said flatly.

A cold feeling went up Harry's spine as understood her feelings now. "Susan," he said, placing a hand tentatively on her shoulder, "I'm sorry; I didn't know."

"You really haven't heard any news all summer, Potter?"

"No, I was completely Muggle the whole summer."

"Well that explains things," Susan said, wiping her cheeks with her sleeve. "I'm sorry, now you're all wet."

"It's all right."

"Auntie was the matriarch for the Bones family. My family is all that's left of the Bones," Susan explained. "Despite how busy she always was as an Auror and later as the Director, she was always there for me. Auntie would do special things for my birthday, took me shopping, and even taught me a few things about magic without my parents knowing … things like that. We were really close; my middle name is also Amelia."

It wasn't hard for Harry to fill in the gaps. He was sorry for Susan; losing family was never easy. It was also obvious now why she wanted the DA to continue.

"Are you all right now?" he asked gently. "I hope I'm doing this right; I'm historically rubbish with girls but I've been trying to learn."

Susan pulled back a little and looked at him with a weak smile. "You're trying to learn about girls?" she asked with a bit of humor in her voice for the first time.

"Well, yeah. Like I said, I've been rubbish at it and not had much opportunity." He felt silly for admitting that, but it was true.

Susan smiled at him, which he liked.

She turned only her head to her friends. "We're going to go talk - I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Susan!" Hannah called out with surprise.

"It'll be fine," she told her friend before moving a little. Harry took the hint and let her go, but Susan grabbed his arm and led him out of the car. They stood alone on the little platform between the cars. She moved over to him and loosely put her arms around his waist and stood close to him.

Harry took the hint, Catrin having done this to him, and put his arms loosely around her. "What did you want to talk about?" He had trouble hearing himself over the wind, so he caused the air to create a barrier on each side of them, decreasing the noise. It wasn't much but it helped enough. He was pleased she didn't seem to notice.

"I make you a deal, Potter. I'd like you to teach the DA or something like it, and in return, you'll be my boyfriend." She smirked at him. "You'll never learn _everything_ about us girls, but I'll help you as much as you want to learn, although you're doing pretty well right now."

A snort escaped him. "I'm making it all up as I go along. I had a little coaching this summer."

Susan smiled. "Whoever she was, she gave you a good start."

Harry laughed. "She mainly told me what I was doing wrong, sometimes painfully."

"It seems like you're really trying to learn." She half-asked it.

"Trying," he agreed.

"So, Potter, how about it? You were a good teacher last year and I can tell you're a strong wizard."

He studied the strawberry-blonde for a moment. She was definitely attractive, perhaps a little too thin; some would call her willowy, but not overly so.

He searched his memory, thinking back two years. "You didn't wear a button."

Her eyes went wide for a moment, confirming she knew exactly what he was talking about. "I almost did; all of Hufflepuff was very upset with you. However, I knew you just well enough from watching you over the years in class that I didn't think you had entered yourself. Watching you during the first task confirmed it for me."

"Thank you for that," he told her with a nod before he grinned. "So, you're asking me to be your boyfriend? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that backwards?"

She snorted. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you, as you weren't going to do by yourself, and you haven't said yes to the rest of my deal either."

"It wasn't part of my plan when I boarded the train, but it is an attractive offer … much like you."

"That's a little cheesy, Potter, but that's fine as long as you aren't saying stuff like that all the time," she told him with a mischievous look. "Well?"

"I'm not sure I want to do a big group again, but a small group would probably be fine," he agreed. "My friends, you, and I assume you want your friends as well?"

"Yes, Hannah, Megan, and Lilith - or Lils as we usually call her."

"An hour a week?" he asked.

"That's probably fine. We'll probably have someone incompetent again for Defense and you can interpret for us and show us what we really should be doing to truly protect ourselves. Please?" she begged politely.

"All right, deal."

Susan pulled him to her tightly. "Thank you! Thank you!" As she moved back a little but still held him, she said with a smile, "You can call me Susan."

"Harry," he said with a grin.

She leaned forward and kissed him softly and chastely on the lips. "Something to build on. Come on, let's find my friends, so I can introduce you."

She turned and opened the door, holding his hand. Looking back through the window to the next car he saw Draco Malfoy smirking at him, obviously intent on joining them momentarily. Harry made the air on the floor near Draco go hard suddenly, causing Malfoy to fall face first as the hardened air wouldn't let his feet move. Harry released his hold on the air as Malfoy hit the floor and followed Susan.

That was the last time he'd do that without Malfoy doing something first; sort of balancing the accounts outstanding, he thought. He'd said he didn't like bullies and he didn't want to become one either, but he really didn't want Malfoy bothering him right now either he justified. He dropped the wind barriers on the side of cars where they had been standing as soon as he walked back into his car.

Susan led him into the compartment she and her friends had been in. The other three girls were staring at Susan and Harry's joined hands. She pulled him over and pushed him into the remaining seat by the window and then sat on his lap. These cabins were much more comfortable with only two people to a side rather than three.

"Harry, I believe you know Hannah from last year. This is Megan Jones and this is Lilith Moon, but we all call her Lils. While he needs no introduction, this is Harry," Susan said brightly.

Hannah took the lead, being Susan's best friend. "Do you two have something you'd like to tell us?"

"I do," Susan said with another smile at Harry before returning to her friend. "I've arranged for Defense lessons with Harry and his friends. You three may join us if you like."

Megan gave her friend a disbelieving look. "That nice, but I don't believe that's what Hannah was asking about."

"Oh?" Susan asked as if she didn't have a clue.

Lilith shook her head. "You might as well know now, Harry. You need to protect yourself from her; she's the joker of the group."

Susan laughed lightly. "But Harry will be safe, mostly, he's my new boyfriend."

Harry saw three mouths drop open momentarily and then snap shut, almost together. He had to admit Susan had pulled that off much better than he could have. The three looked at him in surprise.

"Potter…" Hannah started seriously.

"Harry," he corrected her."

Glaring at him for a moment, she eventually continued, "Harry, she has an older brother, but _**I'm**_ telling you to be good to her or you won't like what happens."

He wasn't surprised to hear that. "Don't worry, that's part of the plan."

"Huh?" Hannah said inelegantly.

"That's part of the plan, I'm going to learn how to be good to her, well, girls in general, really, but her specifically," he admitted. The other three just blinked at him not comprehending while Susan laughed.

The ice broken, the five started to talk, although Harry the least. It was just like being with his other friends and Harry liked that.

— — —

While they were talking, Susan looked at the windows to the corridor when she saw movement and stared there for a moment, drawing the attention of the others to the windows also. There stood Hermione looking puzzled while the youngest Weasley stood there with her hand over her mouth and shoulders shaking.

"You might as well open the door, Hannah," Susan said as she furiously tried to figure out what to do. She knew she'd have to be careful with Granger. She wasn't sure how Harry saw her, but Susan was smart enough to know she couldn't alienate one of Harry's best friends.

With the door open, the two Gryffindor girls squeezed in and stood against the closed door.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Granger asked. That set the redheaded Gryffindor off on another round of giggles.

"Gotta agree with Weasley, I thought it'd be blindingly obvious to someone like you, Granger," Hannah said.

Hermione gave a disapproving look at the blonde Hufflepuff.

"I'm promoting unity between the houses, getting to know them better," Harry said simply. After a pause where Hermione looked pointedly at Susan and Harry, he added, "Particularly Susan, as she's my new girlfriend."

Hermione blinked. "Isn't that kind of sudden? I didn't think you knew her that well."

Susan looked at Harry, hoping he'd get the hint and handle this since he knew Granger better. Fortunately, he did handle it.

"I did know her from the DA last year and classes. As far as 'well', we're starting to work on that. Are you two just out for a walk?"

Susan noticed that while he did answer her questions, he wasn't volunteering any extra information. That struck her as interesting.

"No, I was doing my patrol round. I convinced Ginny to come with me instead of Ron."

Almost any Gryffindor would be better than Ron Weasley, Susan thought, but didn't dare say that. She really wanted to ask Harry why he was such good friends with the boy, but knew she'd have to wait until they knew each other a lot better before she could ask that question.

"Err, Harry, can I talk to you for a minute please? It's kind of important and I was waiting for you to return but you didn't so now that I've found you…"

Susan was surprised by Granger; she was usually so sure of herself. Looking at Harry, she saw him nod so Susan stood in the now cramped cabin.

Harry stood and carefully moved around Susan and towards the door, giving her hand a squeeze. Granger opened the door and stepped out into the corridor; Weasley stayed inside with them as the door shut so the two would have some privacy.

"Do you know what that's about?" Susan asked. There was no doubt her friends wanted to know as well, but left the conversation up to her because of her new Gryffindor connection.

"I believe so," Weasley said, looking behind her, as did the Hufflepuffs. They all saw the two friends talking and it was serious based on their expressions. Harry also looked like he didn't care for what he was hearing. "However, I think it's up to them to tell you … if they want to."

The redhead turned back to look at her. "I'm really curious. Can I ask a question about you two?"

"Sure," Susan replied with a grin. "I might even give you an answer."

Weasley grinned back. "Who asked the question? It was you, wasn't it?"

Susan wasn't surprised by the question. Based on her friends' looks, they were dying to know too and she suspected she'd get interrogated about her conversation with Harry later. "I'll just say that I brought the topic up."

Weasley nodded knowingly. "I thought so." She turned very seriously. "Please treat him well. Harry's had some difficult situations and he needs someone very special. He'll need…" She stopped abruptly when the door started to open again.

Susan almost cursed at the bad timing. She knew Weasley had liked Harry for some time and really wanted to know her thoughts on what Harry might need. She wondered how she might get Weasley alone to finish this conversation.

"Hermione's ready," Harry told Ginny. "I'll see you later."

"Sure." Weasley closed the door after her while Susan stood again.

Harry plopped back down in the seat and Susan resumed her position sitting sideways on his lap and put an arm around him as she leaned against him. "Everything all right?"

He shrugged and didn't look happy. "Not really sure. Hermione's asked a rather large favor and I'm not wild about it, but I kind of need to do it."

"Maybe we can help?" she offered, hoping he'd take her offer up but knowing he might not because their relationship was so new. When he looked around, she knew he might have shared with her, but he was going to decline because of the other three.

"Thanks, but I need to think about it first."

"I understand," she told him as she looked at Hannah.

Her friend understood and started talking about decorating their dorm room. Harry was quiet for the rest of the time and Susan let him be.

— — —

When Hermione and Ginny returned to their cabin, the others look at them.

Ron was the first to speak. "Well? Did you find him?"

When Hermione didn't immediately say anything, Ginny replied, "Yeah, he's at the other end of the car sitting with the Hufflepuff girls."

"Why the bloody hell is he doing that?!" Ron growled.

"Quiet down, Ron," Ginny told him.

"But-"

"Harry," Ginny cut her brother off, "can sit with whomever he likes. Right now he's sitting with them."

"You make it sound like he has a reason," Neville said while implying his question.

"Harry and Susan are dating," Ginny said simply and waited for the explosion. She was saved by Ron being shocked into silence.

"That's interesting," Neville commented and looked very thoughtful.

"Why would he do that?" Ron finally got out, and in a normal although very confused voice, but no one answered immediately.

"Because she appeals to him," Luna said simply into the silence as she continued to look at her upside down Quibbler.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Duh, that's why people normally date. I meant why her?" He looked at Hermione who just sat there lost in her own thoughts.

Ginny wasn't sure if she should say what Susan told her, but she didn't need to as she was saved again by Luna.

"Because she's the Hufflepuff of Hufflepuffs; of the three girls here, only Ginny has a chance for Harry's affections and she'd lose to Susan everytime if Susan really tries."

Ginny went red and tried to look anywhere but at Luna or her brother. Neville started looking at her curiously, causing her to look down. She was intrigued by Luna's statement, but she was incredibly embarrassed by it too because of some of her past actions when she was younger and less thoughtful.

"What do you mean she's the Hufflepuff of Hufflepuffs?" Hermione asked, apparently listening despite that she had looked lost in her thoughts.

"Just that," Luna answered as she turned a page.

"Luna!" Hermione called with exasperation.

"It means," Neville spoke up to save the girl, "that she most embodies what it means to be a Hufflepuff. It can mean she's the formal leader of that group, like I'll be the Longbottom of Longbottoms next summer when I turn seventeen, but in this case it's about character traits. It's a phrase from Wizarding high society."

"But Harry's a Gryffindor through and through," argued Ron as he glared at the Ravenclaw.

Luna shrugged as she ignored his look. "He is, but that doesn't mean a Hufflepuff mate wouldn't be the most compatible for him."

"He's going to marry her?" Ron started to raise his voice again, earning him another kick from Ginny.

"I didn't _say_ that," Luna said as she glanced over her paper at him with a disapproving look as if for a little child, causing Ron to quell. "I said the most compatible mate for him would have strong Hufflepuff traits."

"How can you know that?" Hermione asked for most of them.

Luna didn't bother answering, but Ginny knew. Based on what she had heard, she thought Harry would want someone who was very loyal, hardworking, and family-oriented - all traits she had tried to work on over the last two years since she had really started to get to know the real Harry.

As to how Luna knew, Luna might be quirky and difficult to be around at times, but she was very observant and intelligent. In fact, Ginny thought Luna was a _little_ more intelligent than Hermione, but Hermione had the better memory and Hermione didn't hide her intellect like Luna did.

— — —

As they neared the Hogsmeade station and they could feel the train start to slow down, Susan stood and looked at Harry. "Will you help us get our trunks down two at a time?"

"Sure," he replied and helped to place a trunk on each bench - twice.

Each girl pulled her robes out and then let Harry put the trunks back. When all four girls had their robes, he realized what they were about to do and started feeling a little warm in the face. "I, err, I better go so you can change."

They all laughed at him, but it was Megan who answered first. "Harry, you're not going to see anything that you haven't seen for the whole trip; we aren't taking anything off," she told him as she started to put the robe on over her clothes, causing him to look at Susan and watch the entire time she put her robe on. "Now, maybe Susan would, just because…" That earned her a glare from her friend.

Thinking about it for a moment, he understood. "I guess I hadn't really thought it through. We've always separated in past years." He would only admit to himself that he had like watching Susan stretch and wiggle.

"Yeah, we did too when we were younger and boys were icky," Lilith told him with a teasing look. "But now…not so much," she smiled at him as she adjusted her robes.

Susan gently turned his face slightly to her and kissed him softly. "You go get your robes on and meet us on the platform. You can ride with me up to the castle."

"Err, right," he agreed, happy to go along with her idea.

He left and noticed that most people were changing in the cabins he passed, with a few people in the corridor waiting for someone behind the blinds of their cabin.

When he reached the cabin with his friends, he saw the girls outside. "I assume they're changing?" As Hermione answered "yes", he opened the door widely to hear a scream of "Hey!" from Ron. He also noticed that no one was indecent.

"Do you mind? We're trying to change and the girls are right there," Ron said a little put out.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ron, do you plan to take your trousers off?"

"No," he answered scandalously.

"Then it doesn't matter. You won't be showing off anything." Harry pulled his trunk down and pulled out his robes and slipped them over his head, all the while the door was still open and the girls were looking in with amusement.

As the train was coming into the station, Harry said, "I'm going to ride with Susan to the castle. I'll sit with you all at the feast."

Neville looked at him and nervously asked, "Harry, do you mind if I come with you?"

"No, come on." Harry walked the out with Neville hurrying behind him. "Why did you want to come?"

"Thought you should have a second with you, just in case," Neville told him.

Harry looked at Neville with some doubt, but decided not to say anything. He must have had some reason, Harry thought.

They found the girls just as the train came to a complete stop and everyone started to disembark. The girls looked at Neville questioningly.

"He said he wanted to come," Harry answered the implied questions.

"Who's going to sit with whom?" Hannah asked.

They all looked at each other, but it was Neville who breathlessly said, "Since you're Susan's best friend and I'm Harry's best friend, and the carriages only hold four, then we could go together…"

Harry had never seen his friend so nervous, well, not since the end of first year.

Susan smiled slyly. "Sounds like a plan." She grabbed Harry's arm and called, "Come on you two."

Neville offered a shaky arm to Hannah who took it as she gave him a confused look.

Harry wondered if maybe Neville liked Hannah, but he couldn't be sure and thought it better not to ask, at least not now. He helped Susan into the carriage and Neville helped Hannah. Megan and Lils took the next carriage with a couple of the Hufflepuff boys.

Susan snuggled into him, making herself comfortable. Neville and Hannah sat a little stiffly beside each other. Harry was amused by it all; he also noticed something for the first time.

"Hannah, I didn't realize you were a Prefect," said Harry as he motioned to the badge pinned on her robes.

The girl shrugged. "Someone has to be." No one said anything else during the trip.

At the main doors into the castle, Harry was not surprised to see the Headmaster there looking right at him. He almost sighed, knowing the conversation with the old man would be the hardest of the day.

"Harry," Dumbledore called.

Knowing he didn't have much of a choice, he steered Susan that way, letting his friends go past him. "Yes, Professor."

"I hope you had a good trip?"

"I did, thank you for asking. I hope you had a good day as well." He quickly pulled Susan towards the Great Hall as he finished speaking and before Dumbledore could say anything else.

"What was that about?" Susan asked quietly.

"I was probably a little rude, but I really didn't want to talk to him right then." He sighed and shook his head. There was no doubt in his mind what would happen later. "I'll have to talk to the old man after the feast."

In the hall, Harry kissed Susan on the cheek. "Have fun."

She smiled back at him as she said, "You too."

Harry took his place with his friends.

"Professor Dumbledore didn't look very happy with you," Hermione told him. "What did you say to him?"

"I wished him a good day," Harry replied, causing a laugh from his other friends and a puzzled look from Hermione.

— — —

As the Feast was winding down, Harry was not surprised to see his Head of House walking towards him. He was about to initiate, "Operation Independent Harry", and he hoped she would join him. If she didn't, he could still succeed, but it would be harder.

"Mr Potter, the Headmaster would like to talk to you before you return to our tower."

"I understand," he said as he stood. "I assume you'll be coming too? I believe we have school business to discuss."

She nodded. "I do need to know your class choices for the year."

Seeing Susan making her way to him, he said, "A moment before we go, please Professor?"

He didn't wait for an answer and gave his girlfriend a hug and whispered, "I was right, I gotta go talk so I won't see you until breakfast. Have a good-night."

"Be careful, Harry," she told him and kissed him on the cheek; he returned one to her.

When she walked off, he saw McGonagall looking at him with slight amusement. "I wasn't aware you were such good friends with Miss Bones."

"It's, uh, very recent." He wasn't sure why, but he felt embarrassed.

As they turned a corner, they left the others behind and it was just the two of them. It was time to start the plan. "Professor, we don't have long for our walk, so I hope you'll forgive my bluntness, but I need to ask you a somewhat impertinent question before we get there."

She stopped and gave him a piercing look. "What could be so important, Mr Potter, that you can't discuss it in front of the Headmaster?"

"Professor, I've noticed a pattern in my life where Professor Dumbledore pushes me in various decisions for non-school related matters, starting with placing me with my relatives after my parents were murdered through what happened last June. I'm sure you understand what I can't speak openly right here?"

Her eyebrows went up in obvious surprise. "You're correct; this is not good place for that kind of discussion."

"I can tell you about many things you probably aren't aware of later, but I need to know something now. If Professor Dumbledore continues to push me in non-school related matters and I decide that I don't want to live my life that way, are you going to help him or me?"

McGonagall looked at him for a long moment. "You're asking me to pick between him and you." She paused as she looked to be changing her thoughts about her next question. "Why do you believe you know better than a man with more than a hundred years more experience?"

"Because it's my life," he said simply. "I respect his experience, but it is my life and not his. Also, he has shown several large lapses in judgment, starting with leaving me with my relatives fifteen years ago." He was heartened by her look of agreement.

"I respect you, Professor. Looking back at my experiences with you with a more adult view," he saw her looking questioningly at him, "I believe you made only two real mistakes with me. There were some other times that could have gone better, but I didn't make it easy for you those times."

"What were the mistakes?" she asked a little defensively.

He was pleased that she hadn't outright dismissed him. "Fourth year, you should have confiscated Malfoy's badges after I was picked for the Tournament. Second year and fourth, you should have defended me to the school when you knew the truth about the lies that were being spread about me."

She looked down for a moment and said nothing, leading him to believe she agreed about the badges, his being a Parselmouth, and that he didn't enter himself in the Triwizard Tournament.

"Professor Dumbledore wouldn't allow it," she finally said so quietly he almost didn't hear it.

"Then that would be a marvelous example of Professor Dumbledore interfering in my life in school related matters, which he's also done in non-school matters. I ask again, Professor, when the Headmaster and I disagree, will you continue to help him or will you help me as I take control of my life?"

She looked up at him sharply.

"Yes, Professor, I am going to take control of my life with your help or without it, but I'd like to have your help," he told her, almost pleaded with her. He also realized she could remain neutral and pick neither side, but he hoped he could get her to support him. It would make his plan much easier with at least some of professors supporting him.

McGonagall turned and started to slowly walk again, but much slower and in silence. She stopped a minute later when they turned the last corner and the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office was in sight. "I am inclined to help you, but I'll give you my final answer after your conversation with the Headmaster. I want to hear what he tells you."

Harry smiled ever so slightly. "Thank you, Professor, for at least considering this seriously."

With a nod, McGonagall continued to their destination at her usual brisk walking pace. She continued all the way into the office, not knocking because they were expected.

"Ah, Harry, please have a seat," Dumbledore said as he indicated the chair in front of his desk. "We have much to talk about."

"Thank you, sir, but I'll stand," Harry said respectfully, something he was determined to maintain for this conversation. "I don't expect to be here long. Professor McGonagall and I have school business to discuss. What school business do we have that Professor McGonagall is unable to handle?"

"Harry," the old man said with a sigh.

"I believe you should be calling me 'Mister Potter.'" Harry turned to his head of house. "Professor, isn't the school policy that Professors should call their students by Mister or Miss and then their family name?"

"It is, Mr Potter," she said with curiosity, obviously wondering where he was going with this.

He returned to the Headmaster. "I suspect there are any number of school policies that aren't followed when I'm involved, but I will insist on this one."

"Why is that … Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"Because I have no wish for the other students to think I get special treatment from you. In fact, I would like us to continue our relationship as it was last year; we ignore each other and you randomly protected the school from the Ministry," Harry told him.

Dumbledore looked a little disappointed but queried, "Randomly?" in a surprised tone.

"Yes, sir. During the first part of the year you didn't bother to protect us at all, multiple times. Then you did for a few minutes before you left and then allowed the Ministry to do whatever they wanted for a couple of months, followed by stepping in at the very end of the year to restore order after everything had gone belly-up," Harry explained.

"Is that how you see it?" asked Dumbledore, looking amused.

"It is," Harry told him as he raised his right hand to show the scars from the Blood Quill. "The Ministry gave me this last year while you decided not to protect any of us."

At a gasp, he turned to his head of house. "While I would have liked your help with this, it's my fault as you'd already told me to keep my head down."

"Mr Potter," Dumbledore brought his attention back. "Why is she forgiven but I'm not, for that sounds like your meaning."

"Because when I first came to her, she told me to keep my head down. However, Headmaster, you ignored me all year, you allowed that woman in the school as a teacher. It's my understanding that hiring staff is the responsibility of the Headmaster," Harry pointed out to him. "The safety of the school ultimately rests with you, a role you've failed every year I've been here. I may be disappointed, but I hope to have a normal year this year, or at least as far as it is up to me.

"This is my life and I will be in control of it as much as is possible," Harry stated.

"You are still a minor," Dumbledore pointed out. "While you are at this school, I am responsible for you."

"You are responsible for the school, Headmaster," Harry returned. "I am responsible for my educational work. I know you'll disagree with me, but I'm also responsible for my personal, non-school time. That is something that you no longer need to worry about."

"I assume that is why you ran away this summer?" Dumbledore asked casually.

"I didn't run away, Professor, not that it's really any of your business," Harry stated firmly. "I was forced to return to the Muggle world for the summer as I'm not allowed to stay at the school. The fact that I chose to hide myself to protect my friends and myself is my concern. Or do you attempt to dictate the holidays of all the other students in the castle?"

"You situation is special, as you're well aware." Dumbledore leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk.

Harry turned to his head of house who was looking very interested in this conversation. "Professor, if you could help me for a moment. What is your opinion of Divination?"

"A very wooly and imprecise branch of magic. Why?" she asked.

"Thank you, Professor." Harry returned to Dumbledore. "Headmaster, while you may believe in a supposed prophecy about me, I reject it as I agree with Professor McGonagall. After having sat in three years of classes with Professor Trelawney, I believe she made up the prophecy about me and Voldemort and I refuse to let my life be dictated by a piece of fiction, and I refuse to let you dictate my life as you try to make that wretched piece of fiction come true."

"Yet you've already experienced one prophecy of hers coming true in your third year, therefore her other was true as well," Dumbledore argued.

"What happened in third year was happenstance and luck," Harry countered. "Had I been as clear thinking then as I am now, I could have easily thwarted it. I could have let Sirius and Remus kill Pettigrew as they wanted. Or we all could have stunned Pettigrew, but I don't feel too bad about not thinking of that, considering two adults and Hermione didn't think of it either.

"No Headmaster, if that prophecy about me killing Voldemort comes true it will be because of happenstance also. You may think of that as me fulfilling the prophecy, but it won't because I'm _trying_ to fulfill it. It'll be luck and nothing more."

"You don't plan to try to vanquish him?" Dumbledore asked concerned. "What about all of your friends and innocent people who are attacked?"

"They have wands, Headmaster, just as I do, and they need to make their own choices. I'll protect my friends, but it's is not my responsibility to chase and remove a criminal. That duty belongs to the Aurors and the Ministry of Magic."

"Without your help, many will die," Dumbledore said, obviously trying to guilt him into the task.

Harry was ready for that argument though. "Then you need to get busy, Headmaster, since you have a role in the Ministry. You've had, what, fifteen years to do something? Other than giving me to people who hate me in order to raise me, what have you done?"

"This is not the time for that discussion," Dumbledore replied.

"Right, because it wouldn't be good for Professor McGonagall to know vital information in case something happened to you?" Harry noticed that he'd let a bit of sarcasm creep into his voice and took a deep breath to let it out and to return to his calm voice.

"Mr Potter, you know I sent you to your relatives so that you would be safe and could grow up with a normal life and not surrounded by your fame," Dumbledore told him.

Harry noticed the old man had ignored the bit about not sharing knowledge. "Yes, the place where you also said you also knew I'd experience dark and difficult years and yet you put me there anyway."

"Where are your aunt and her family? We can't find them." Dumbledore was back to sounding concerned.

"I can't really say," Harry said honestly. "The last I saw of them they were being taken away by the Muggle police and they were all wearing handcuffs at the time. Just before the police came, they were trying to kill me. I ended up at a hospital to have my injuries healed. As you can see, I have yet _another_ scar as a reminder of my dark and difficult years." He heard a noise and glanced over to see a very incensed McGonagall.

"Where did you go, Harry? Why didn't you contact us?"

"That's Mr Potter, sir. As for where I was, that is neither your responsibility nor concern." If the topic wasn't so serious, Harry would have found the whole conversation amusing.

"I only wanted to keep you safe," Dumbledore assured him.

"Ah, safe … you keep using that word, yet I believe you do not know what it really means," he said cryptically and with a hint of amusement to Dumbledore's look of consternation. "I believe we have very different definitions of _safe_ , considering how many times I've been injured or almost killed while you were in charge. No Headmaster, I think I'll try taking care of myself now. I may take advice from the few I trust, but I'll make the final decisions and that includes where I stay during the summer.

"Did you have any other school-related matters before Professor McGonagall and I leave to attend to my class choices for this year?"

Dumbledore looked exasperated. "Mr Potter, we need each other. You need my help, just as I needed your help this summer - with a school matter."

"I probably shouldn't ask, but what school matter did you need my help with?" Harry was almost sure he was going to regret asking.

"Because you were unable to help me, I was unable to get the Potions Professor we needed here this year," Dumbledore confessed. "Professor Wilkins will do well in the classroom, but we needed someone else whom I needed you to help me persuade to come."

Harry shrugged, glad this was so easy. "As interesting as that may be, as we discussed earlier, staffing is the Headmaster's duty, not mine.

"I hope we have exhausted your list, Headmaster, because I do have one school related matter for your attention, and it's probably best that Professor McGonagall be here to witness this." Harry noticed he had her full attention with that remark.

"One of the conclusions that I arrived at this summer was that if I wanted to be treated like an adult, then I needed to act like one. That is why we are having this conversation where no one is shouting and we are asking and answering questions with each other, or mostly because I have noticed you've ignored several of mine that you apparently didn't want to answer.

"No matter," Harry waved the objection away, "I believe you've heard my main point about me personally, that is, my life is mine. As far as school, I plan to treat everyone here as an adult too, or at least those who are old enough to know better.

"That means, Headmaster, that I expect the staff to treat me with respect, which I will return. If they do not treat me with respect, I shall respond appropriately. The same policy will be applied to the older students as well.

" _Therefore_ ," Harry said raising his voice ever so slightly when the Headmaster looked to interrupt him, "I suggest you let the one Professor that continually abuses his position know that disrespect will no longer be tolerated. The same warning should also be passed to his primary aide in trying to abuse me, the student in my year, as well as any others whom that man allows to come after me."

"Mr Potter, you can _not_ go down this road!" Dumbledore said strongly.

"Whether I do or not is up to him and you, _Headmaster_. If you will enforce the school's standards for the teachers with him, then I won't have to demonstrate that bad actions bring bad consequences. The same holds true for the blond bully in Slytherin who seems to think he can do anything he wants no matter that it hurts others."

"Mr Potter," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "You know that Professor Snape has a special role and therefore must have a little extra leeway. And Draco Malfoy must be here for us to show him the path back to the Light."

"Headmaster, that is utter nonsense. I respectfully disagree, but that may be because I've suffered under their abuse and you haven't. Consider what would happen if one of them fired a spell at another person or maybe insulted someone while walking down Diagon Alley, saying something like 'I'm glad your parents are dead.' I'd be surprised if the victim didn't retaliate in some way. If you want to turn those two around, I suggest that it would be more profitable to show them that their bad actions will lead to bad consequences.

"If you're unwilling to do so, then what did you say to Minister Fudge a couple of years back after Voldemort returned?" Harry paused dramatically for a heartbeat as if having to think. "Oh yes, I think it was: _If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit,"_ Harry recited, in a passable imitation of Dumbledore's voice.

Dumbledore's eyebrow leapt up at hearing his own words given to him.

"If you'll excuse us, Headmaster, I believe my head of house and I still have school business to attend to." Harry started to turn just as the door burst open. Harry was surprised it didn't slam into the wall - magic, he concluded, as he watched Snape stride into the office.

"Ah, you're already started the process to expel the Potter brat for injuring Mr Malfoy," Snape said with disdain.

Harry shook his head. "As you can see, Headmaster, Professor Snape proves my argument. As for his unfounded accusation, if you bother to inquire, you will find that I was never in the same train car as Malfoy today, as far as I know. In fact, it was a pleasure to have one train ride where I wasn't insulted by Malfoy. On every other train trip, he's barged into my cabin to insult and threaten me and my friends - every single trip except this one. Have a pleasant evening, Professors. Professor McGonagall, I'll wait for you at the bottom of the stairs."

Walking out with his head high, he was a little surprised at not being called to task for his reply. He suspected he'd surprised Snape with his calm answer. He was very thankful for all of the time he'd spent learning meditation now.

It wasn't long before McGonagall came down the stairs and she didn't look happy. "To my office, Mr Potter."

He swore he heard her add, "That man!" under her breath, but he wasn't sure nor was he sure of which man she might have meant if she did say it. "Of course, Professor," he agreed and walked with her without conversation all the way to her office.

Seated, he looked at her expectantly.

"I will be mostly neutral in regards to choosing between you two, although I will be more vocal about his ideas that might harm you; that should be beneficial to you. Also, there will be some changes starting now that will be in your favor. I hope you can understand that I can not go further at this time, Mr Potter," she told him.

"Of course, Professor, I can understand the difficult position you may be in. Nevertheless, I do appreciate any help you can give me. I can help you better understand various events surrounding me, if you have a few hours this weekend and can get aahold of a Pensieve," he offered.

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "What would you show, Mr Potter?"

"Some of the things that have happened over the years at school. Things you either weren't told about, or you were told something other than the full truth. You might find the details enlightening," he told her.

After a moment, she replied, "Saturday at one after lunch. I believe it would be in your best interest to approach Professor Flitwick as well. Your mother had a very good relationship with him; she was one of his favorite students, much like your father was one of mine."

"I shall see to it. Perhaps you could share a few stories with me?" he asked, hoping almost desperately.

"I'm sure I can find a few," she said with the barest of smiles, at least as far as the students ever saw. Reaching into a drawer, she pulled out two envelopes and handed them to him. "Your letters; I kept them when the owl wouldn't deliver them."

He opened the one with the Ministry seal on it first. Harry was pleased with most of his OWL scores. The one with a note next to it made him smirk. "Not that I wish to see her again, but I'm curious as to Umbridge's reaction to my Defense score being the highest in the year."

"I wasn't there," McGonagall's slight smile returned, "but I've heard a rumor that her reaction was heard some distance away. Do you still wish to become an Auror, Mr Potter?"

Harry sighed and shook his head after a moment. "Probably not, Professor. A small part of me would, but now that my eyes have been opened as to what the Ministry is really like, I don't think I could work for them."

"Not everyone in the Ministry is like Fudge and Umbridge," McGonagall countered.

"I understand, but it's still a concern. You know, this summer when I was in the Muggle world, I met several men who told me a little about what they do. Why don't we have people with real jobs come to Hogwarts and tell us about their careers before we have to choose our NEWT courses? Or even at the end of second year before we choose our electives?"

McGonagall looked at him for a moment in thought. "That's actually a good idea. We don't merely because we never have in the past."

Harry nodded in understanding as he opened the second letter to see a request for his NEWT courses. "I really wish Professor Snape wasn't teaching Defense this year as it's always been my favorite class. Still, I'll take that, Charms, and Transfiguration. Will my Exceeds Expectations get me into Professor Wilkins Potions class?"

"It will," she said as she wrote his choices down.

"I hadn't planned on taking Potions before, so I didn't get the book this morning. Will I be able to go get one tomorrow during lunch?"

"Probably not," she answered. "Ask Professor Wilkins if there is an extra book in his room. Students leave books here sometimes and they don't change editions all that often. You should have a fifth class," she prompted him.

"There aren't any electives with other things, maybe something practical for living?" he asked, hoping for something like Wizard Living.

"No, and it's not because some of us haven't asked. The Board of Governors has stayed with the traditional courses," she explained a little tiredly.

He took her answer and expression to mean she didn't agree. "Too bad. I'd really like to take Ancient Runes, but I don't want to have to sit in a class of third years."

McGonagall brightened. "We can help you with that. There is an accelerated NEWT level course for students like you who didn't take it earlier. It meets three hours on one evening a week, and you'll cover three years of study in two years so you'll be able to take your OWL in them at the end of your seventh year. After that, you can do self-study to take your NEWT in them at a later date if that's important to you."

"I think I'd like that. Too bad I couldn't do all five years in two," he said jokingly.

"You'd have to be a prodigy in Runes and we've only ever had one person do that. It was several hundred years ago and he created many of the more advanced warding schemes in use today," she told him as she finished the paperwork.

Reaching back into her drawer, she put a silver badge with a "Q" on it in front of him. "Miss Bell thought you would do better than she as she feels she will have to struggle with her NEWTS this year."

Harry was pleased as he picked it up. It also brought back a promise to mind. "Professor, I ask this only with the best of intentions, but after spending just part of the afternoon with Ron, why is he still a Prefect? I know why he was last year and I'm not asking about that, but now… He has a lot of anger problems to deal with that no Prefect should have."

McGonagall leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment. "This is between only us, Mr Potter."

"Of course, Professor."

"All of us on staff are aware of Mr Weasley's change in personality," she said carefully, "and have been asked to help him as best we can. Professor Dumbledore believes that if we can treat him like normal then he will become so."

Harry considered that. "I understand, Professor. I also understand that Professor Dumbledore has the belief to give everyone about ten chances to do the right thing, which I do admire, but I also find it short-sighted in some cases. There are situations where sending someone into a bad situation is not the right thing, and for some people, they will never make it right.

"Ron is still my friend and I will help him where I can, but even I can tell that if he is a Prefect it will be bad for him, bad for Gryffindor, and bad for the school." He didn't want to say this, but he had promised. "I've also been told to tell you that if Ron remains as Prefect then Hermione will turn her badge in. She refuses to do patrols with him."

McGonagall looked shocked, which Harry could understand.

"I do have a proposal. Ron really doesn't want to be Prefect but won't give it up because of what his parents would say." Harry held up the Quidditch badge. "However, he really wants to be Quidditch captain and I don't _think_ his parents would mind that change. So if I could trade positions with him, then I think it would all work out. Of course, we'd have to watch and help him with the team, but there he would have motivation to act better. He has very little motivation to do better as a Prefect and I dread to think of what will happen when certain students insult him as they are prone to do."

"That has been a concern of mine as well," McGonagall said with some dread. "Your idea has a lot of merit. I assume you are willing to trade?"

Harry wasn't completely sure he wanted to do this, but felt he owed Hermione. "Yes, Professor, I am."

"Very well, I think we're done here. Since it's late, let me escort you back to the common room. I think it would be best for me to handle the badges." She held her hand out.

Harry understood that this way she could be blamed for anything wrong and not him. "Thank you, Professor," he told her as he handed the badge over.

"I'm sure Miss Granger can let you know of your duties as Prefect," she told him as they walked. "I'll inform the Head Boy and Head Girl of the change tomorrow morning." McGonagall seemed to get a pleased expression for a moment. "I supposed I should inform the staff tomorrow as well."

He suspected she was envisioning Snape's reaction, but he thought it best not to ask.

Soon, they arrived at the portrait guarding their tower. As soon as they stepped inside, they were greeted by shouting. It was so like his return after the Yule Ball in fourth year he wanted to smack his friend.

"Why won't you go?" Ron asked in raised voice as he stood over her as she was seated at a table with a book; Ginny was sitting with her and both girls were leaning back slightly as if trying to get away from him while staying in their seats. "You're always nagging me about going on patrol and now you don't want to go!"

"Mr Weasley!" McGonagall's stern voice stopped him and caused every head and eye to swivel to her. Many of the onlookers cringed at her expression and tried to step back.

Her head swept around the room and zeroed in on the seventh year Prefects. "At least you've sent the younger ones to bed. Unless you are a Prefect, please head to your room."

Harry stood where he was. He knew what was to come.

"Why is he still here?" Ron demanded and pointed to Harry.

"Mr Weasley!" she said with a hint of outrage. "While I am well aware of your difficulty at the moment that does not excuse you to talk to others like that. First, you will issue an apology to Miss Granger for you appalling manners."

Ron still looked very upset, but he managed to grind out, "I'm sorry, Hermione, I was rude."

Hermione nodded acceptance but really wouldn't look at Ron.

"Mr Weasley, I will give you a second chance to act appropriately, but no more than that. However, I don't believe being Prefect is suited for you." As the boy's mouth parted slightly in surprise, McGonagall continued. "I require your Prefect badge, but if you wish, I will give you the Quidditch Captain badge in return."

Ron seemed to lose his anger instantly and nodded quickly as he removed his Prefect badge with all haste. "Gladly, Professor," he told her as he stepped forward and handed her his old badge and took the new one, admiring it.

"There are three conditions for you keeping that badge and position," McGonagall told him, causing him to look at her. "First, you must keep your grades up; a failing class average grade will cause me to take it back. Second, you will act at all times as a gentleman. If I find out you are taking your anger out on a team member, I will take the badge back. Third, Mr Potter will remain on the team and you will listen to him as an advisor. If he tells you to step away and cool off, you will do so. Do you have any questions, Mr Weasley?"

"Err, no Professor."

"Very good." She looked at the five other Prefects. "I'm making Mr Potter the male sixth year Prefect. While I'm sure Miss Granger will inform him of what he needs to know, I want all of you to help him along for the first few weeks." She handed the badge to Harry.

All the heads were nodding and Hermione looked very relieved as well.

"Very well, everyone get a good night's rest. Fifth years, you are responsible for making sure the first years make it to breakfast on time. I will take your currently scheduled patrol, Miss Granger. Good-night." McGonagall turned and left the tower.

The others congratulated him before heading up to bed, even Ron, Harry was happy to see. Hermione went last and gave him a hug too. "Thank you so much!" she whispered fiercely in his ear, not letting go immediately.

"It's going to be all right," he told her and patted her on the back. "You can tell me about it tomorrow. I'm sure you'll enjoy lecturing me on being a Prefect."

"Prat," she told him, but it was good-naturedly. "Good-night, Harry."

"Good-night, Hermione."

— — —

Over an hour earlier, Susan was figuratively cornered in her dorm room by her friends.

"All right," Hannah said, leading the charge, "what is it with you and Potter? We all know there aren't many witches who wouldn't go out with him, but what happened?"

"And no detail is too small," Lilith told her, with the other two nodding.

Susan couldn't help the smile as she chuckled to herself. "I guess I got lucky; I saw my opportunity, prompted the question, and he said yes."

"Considering what happened before, I bet there was some emotional blackmail too," Hannah half-said half-asked.

"He might have seen it that way," Susan said with a shrug. "It was hard for me to tell. He's not as much of an open book as last year."

"That's good to hear as I thought he was too moody, but why did you ask him?" Hannah asked.

"You heard what he said before we walked outside, didn't you?" Susan was curious if any of them had heard what she did. She watched them all trying to work it out and almost laughed when they collectively came up blank.

"I give up," Megan told her. "What did he say?"

Susan grinned. "After he apologized to me, he said he was trying to learn about girls." At their blank look, she spelled it out. "If you had the opportunity to train a boy who had amazingly great potential to be a boyfriend like you've always wanted, and he seemed to be sincere about learning to treat you right, wouldn't you seize the opportunity?"

Lilith groaned and the others looked like they wanted to as well. "So you have someone like the Golden Gryffindor who's willing to be trained into the perfect boyfriend, well, yeah, sure, who wouldn't jump at that. Damn it! Why didn't I recognize the opportunity?!"

Susan cackled and Hannah threw a pillow at her friend. "It did help that I was already in his arms at the moment," she admitted.

"Lucky witch," Megan growled like an insult. They all looked at her in surprise for a brief moment and then all four started to laugh.

After they recovered, Hannah asked her friend. "How far are you going to take this?"

"Well," drawled Susan as she thought about it, "it'll depend on him and how well we get along, I suppose. We'll take it slow and give it a good try. I know what you're asking and I don't know if he's the final one for me, but I'll never know if I don't try."

"Lucky witch," Megan muttered again causing another round of laughter.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	4. Friends New and Old

(A/N: This chapter should explain a little more about how the events at the DoM last June affected our intrepid 6 and anwswer questions some of you have been asking.)

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - Friends New and Old**

The next morning, Harry noticed that Ron was proudly pinning his Quidditch Captain badge on his robes, with more evident enjoyment than he'd ever had with his Prefect badge. "Hey Ron. Did you get a book or something when you were Prefect?"

"Err, yeah, I think I did. Hold on." Ron bent down and started to rummage through his trunk.

"Why would…" Neville trailed off as he looked at Harry and saw the badge. "Congratulations, mate."

"Thanks, Neville. McGonagall thought Ron would be a good Quidditch captain and he probably wouldn't have time to be Prefect too," Harry temporized. Neville's look indicated that he knew what Harry really meant.

"Ah ha!" Ron stood suddenly and handed over a battered parchment that looked like it had probably been mailed at one time.

"Thanks, Ron." Harry would read it later today.

"So, what does this mean for us?" Seamus asked, usually the bolder of the two remaining dorm mates.

"For you, nothing's really different from last year," Harry told them casually. "We all make mistakes, just don't be stupid. For me, I'll have a little less free time."

"I'm glad it's you, Harry. I'd really rather be Captain," Ron told him with a grin, which heartened Harry that his friend wasn't upset with this change. "Let's go get breakfast." Ron led them all down.

They found the girls coming down about the same time and the two groups joined each other. They followed the last of the first years being led out of the tower by the fifth year Prefects.

Harry noticed that Hermione and Ginny walked beside him on other side of him from Ron. His observations regarding his female friend were starting to add up and he hoped he was wrong. He'd try to talk to her about it soon.

In the Great Hall, Susan came over before he sat and put a hand on his arm. "I'll be over after I get my timetable and," she smiled and tapped her finger on his new badge, "you can tell me how you got this when you didn't have it last night."

He was amused. Somehow, she made it obvious he would be telling her, yet it didn't come out as demanding. "Sure, and we can compare our classes."

It wasn't long before McGonagall came walking slowly down the table and handing out their timetables, as the other three heads of house were doing too. Harry received his and looked it over as he finished up breakfast.

"What do you have on Tuesday nights?" asked Hermione as she leaned towards him trying to figure out his class schedule. "We never have classes after dinner."

Harry grinned at her. "You don't but I do." He turned his schedule towards her so she could read it better.

"Ancient Runes for OWLs, accelerated? What's that?"

"McGonagall said I should have five classes and I didn't feel like taking any of the others. I told her I'd like to take Runes but didn't want to sit with the third years." Harry noticed he had the attention of those around him.

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Susan had arrived and she was listening also. "She said this was a class for those who didn't take it starting third year. She said we'll cover three years of material in two years so I can take my OWL in it when I sit for my NEWTs at the end of next year. Apparently, I can learn the last two years on my own time and take a NEWT for it later … if I want."

"I didn't know they did that," Hermione exclaimed, sounding almost affronted at not being told.

"I got the impression it would be a small class, so I'm not surprised it's not more well known. I was a bit upset they don't offer more electives for our last two years, but McGonagall indicated the school's Board of Governors didn't like doing anything they haven't done before." Harry turned to his friend whom he thought might know. "Neville, do you know who's on the school's Board?"

"No, but my Gran probably does. I can ask if you like," the boy offered.

"Thanks, but I'll ask McGonagall when I see her later." He looked up at his girlfriend. "Unless you know."

"I'd have to ask my parents," Susan told him as she looked at his timetable.

"Why do you want to know?" asked Hermione.

"Well, why doesn't Hogwarts have more electives?" Harry asked her but didn't wait for an answer. "Not sure I still want to be a Auror, but why aren't there classes to help with that? Or if you wanted to be a Healer? Or anything else that takes more learning after school, why aren't there classes that help you prepare for that, even if it's only a little?"

"Finance," Neville said with a nod.

"Why that?" Hermione asked. "It's not magical."

"Hermione, something being magical is not the only reason to have a class. Some of us," Neville pointed at Harry, "need to know how to manage estates. I'm willing to bet it wouldn't be a small class either."

"Good point," Harry agreed, surprised he hadn't thought of that too. He also wanted to ask Neville what he knew about his parents' estate, but decided this wasn't the place and he really didn't need to know immediately.

"Most of our classes are the same," Susan said as she handed him her timetable.

Harry saw that she was still taking Herbology, in place of his Runes class. They shared his other four classes. He quickly looked at Hermione's timetable and determined they had a free period this afternoon. "Hermione, how about you tell me about being a Prefect after Defense."

"I could do it now," she offered.

"Except that I think Susan wants my attention. I also have Ron's Prefect parchment; it might be good to read that first," he told her.

Hermione looked shocked. "I'm surprised he still had that."

Harry glanced up and was glad to see that Ron was talking to Seamus and hadn't heard. Looking back, he saw that Hermione was looking embarrassed, as she should have been, he thought. "We'll talk about the duties later."

Rising, Harry took Susan's hand. "Maybe a walk around the lake?" He gestured towards the ceiling. "It looks nice outside."

"That would be lovely. If this boyfriend/girlfriend thing is ever going to work, we need to get to know each other," she suggested.

The two of them walked out of the castle with Harry telling her about his becoming a Prefect late last night. That caused him to also tell her about his conversation with Dumbledore. She was an attentive listener.

When he finished the story, she considered it all for a moment. "You lead an interesting life, Harry. Please be careful with Snape, though."

"I plan to," he promised her and pulled her off the path slightly and leaned against a tree, holding her to him. He was pleased that she was a little shorter than he was. "Can we try something before we go further?"

She looked at him with amusement in her eyes as she stood with her body touching his. "I wondered when we'd get around to this."

"Is it too soon?" he asked with a little worry.

"You're doing fine, Harry," she assured him. "Don't worry; if you try something I don't like, I'll let you know." Susan leaned forward.

Harry wrapped his arms around the lithe strawberry-blonde and kissed her for real. He felt her hands slowly caress his face and then felt a sudden breeze. He did his best to reign in his power as he pulled back slowly, a grin dominating his face.

"A good start," she said with her own grin before she kissed him this time.

A long moment later, she pulled back and also stepped back before breathing deeply. "We should probably continue on or we might miss our next class."

Harry wasn't sure that would be so bad, but decided not to press his luck. "We'll have to practice that more later."

"Definitely," she agreed, still smiling. "Tell me about yourself. What are your favorite foods and why?"

— — —

Harry and Susan sat beside each other in their first class, Potions. He noticed that Hermione was sitting beside Ravenclaw Lisa Turpin. Ron was next to Terry Boot.

The class was eight Ravenclaws and six Slytherins, along with only three Gryffindors and three Hufflepuffs, Hannah and Ernie being the only other Hufflepuffs besides Susan. Apparently, only half of all the sixth years were taking Potions now. Harry probably wouldn't have been here but he thought the class was useful and it also wasn't taught by Snape any more.

"Good morning," Professor Wilkins said as he walked in. The man was tall and thin with short graying hair. "For your last two years, the course becomes a lot harder as we brew more complex potions. Sometimes, you'll be working individually; at others, with a partner. So, pick someone you can work with now. There will be no changing until next term. You can, of course, keep your current partner for the entire year if you wish."

When no one moved, he asked, "So everyone is happy with their partner?"

Harry saw Boot give Ron a look and then look around, but it seemed no one else was dissatisfied, leaving Boot no choice but to stay with Ron. Deciding now was a good time; Harry raised his hand, getting a surprised look from his partner.

"Yes, Mr…"

"Potter," Harry volunteered and received a nod. "I didn't sign up for this class until late last night, so I didn't have a chance to purchase the book. Professor McGonagall suggested there might be an extra that I could use." He saw Susan relax.

"Possibly." Wilkins walked over to a cabinet and opened it. Digging around for a moment, he pulled out a book and then closed the cabinet. "Here you go, Mr Potter. This doesn't look too damaged. You can use it temporarily until you can get your own or use it all year; it's all the same to me."

"Thank you, Professor," replied Harry, who noticed Malfoy smirking at him as he whispered to Nott, his partner.

"Since everyone seems satisfied with their partner, please pull out some parchment along with quill and ink. I'll be giving a short quiz to see what you know." The professor smiled knowingly at the groans.

— — —

"What did you think?" Harry asked Susan once they were in the corridor. Hermione hurried up to walk next to him.

"Not sure if he's as good as Snape at Potions, but he's a much better teacher," she answered.

Harry snorted. "He'd have to be really bad to be a worse teacher than Snape, but I agree. For all of his faults, even I could tell that Snape was an expert with Potions."

"We'll have to look at that book he gave you later," she told him. "I thought the notes in it were interesting."

"What notes?" Hermione asked, not having seen the book in question.

"Oh, the person who had it before wrote notes in the margin, like we all do," Harry replied. "Susan and I decided they seemed reasonable and tried them."

"That's how you received an outstanding," Hermione harrumphed. "That was cheating."

"How?" Susan asked seriously.

"Well, you had information the rest of us didn't," Hermione told her.

"Didn't you have your book weeks ago?" Harry asked.

"Yes…"

"Then in all that time, you could have researched the potion and made your own notes," he pointed out to her.

"It's also possible that by following the notes we could have failed the lesson," Susan reminded her, "but the notes looked reasonable from what I know of potions. You can be sure we'll be checking them before we use them again, though."

Hermione didn't look happy, but she didn't argue any more.

— — —

After lunch, the group walked in the classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Snape was at his desk looking over something, probably his lesson plan assumed Harry. As the bell rang, Snape picked his wand off of his desk and flicked it at the door, which slammed shut.

Snape took a moment and looked the class over before nodding. "Since everyone is here, we can begin. Because of shoddy teaching by all five of your previous instructors, we will have much ground to cover. That is even more urgent because we are on the brink of civil war."

Harry bristled a little at Snape's condemnation of Remus, but he wasn't surprised at the unfavorable comment either.

"The Headmaster has asked that I make this class more practical and I shall, but the theory will not be ignored either." Snape looked around for a moment, his gaze lingering on Harry. "I doubt everyone can keep up, but we shall see."

"Everyone stand and move your desk to the side of the room. Then partner with someone not from your own house and stand on opposite sides of the room." Snape paused and waited while they moved. "There are exactly thirty of you, so partner up quickly."

Harry looked at Susan who nodded and they stood across from each other.

"One of the most important skills you'll learn this year," Snape lectured as he paced down the middle of the classroom between the two groups, "is silent casting. Those of you who bellow out your spell are at a great disadvantage. Why, Mr Malfoy?"

"Because your opponent would know what you're casting and can counter it."

"Correct, five points to Slytherin," Snape said. "Therefore, we will learn this skill now and it will be used for the remainder of this year. If you can not learn it by the end of this term, don't bother returning to this class next term.

"Let us start by learning to do this with the Stinging hex, since it won't really hurt if you're hit by it, should someone actually manage to accomplish this today." Snape sounded like he didn't expect anyone to do it. He stood by his desk now, out of the way, but with his wand out and by his side. "Everyone cast only at your partner without saying anything; begin."

— — —

"Greasy git," Ron swore maliciously, leading the group away from the class. "Don't say anything, begin," he mimicked Snape reasonably well. "Would it have killed him to tell us how to do it?"

"That doesn't seem to be the way he works," Harry said slowly as he thought about his experiences with Snape.

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked, walking next to Susan.

Harry saw a few people following them that he wasn't sure about. "Let's talk in here for a moment," he told his friends as he opened a door to an unused room.

When they were all inside and the door was closed, Harry began. "Don't know about your Potions classes, but in ours he would write instructions for the day's potion on the board and tell us to begin. While we did sometimes get a lecture, they seemed infrequent."

"Ours were similar," Hannah agreed.

Despite them being alone, Harry still said the next part a little quieter. "I had personal lessons with him last year for Occlumency. He was the same way, telling me the goal but not really telling me how to do it. He seems to expect us to work out the how by ourselves."

"You had Occlumency lessons with him?" Susan asked very surprised. "I bet that didn't work out too well."

"No, it was a disaster," Harry said shortly, not wanting to talk any more about it. "I haven't had time to look at our book yet. Has anyone read ahead and found this topic discussed?"

"I've looked at the first half of the book and it's not mentioned," Hermione volunteered. "I'll look in the library as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Hermione," he said gratefully. "I guess we have the topic of our first Defense Study Group. I think we'll call it the DSG this year. I don't think the DA exists anymore." He wasn't sure if he was sad or not about the group changing, but he was very glad the circumstances didn't exist anymore.

"How often did you plan for us to meet?" Hermione asked and the others looked interested too.

"Not sure, maybe an hour a week if everyone wants it," Harry said as he considered it through. "I don't want to take up too much time, but we all need to do this. I have no doubt Snape will happily give us a Dreadful at the end of the term if we can't."

"Can't have that," Ron agreed. "I don't want to lose the Captain's badge. We'll have to schedule it around Quidditch practices."

"That's part of why I want to make the lessons shorter, to be able to fit them in." Harry looked at Ron seriously. "I won't be going to more than two Quidditch practices a week, maybe a third the week before a game."

Ron bristled and looked like he was becoming upset.

"We can talk about it later, Ron," Harry told him, trying to calm him down and watching Ron turn away as he held it in.

"I guess we have a plan, at least for now. If you'll excuse me, I think Hermione needs to lecture me on being a Prefect." Harry smiled at the laughs and was glad to see Ron turn back to him with an amused look. He left the room with Hermione, Susan, and Hannah following him to the library.

They found a table in the back and Hermione started to go over their duties and how things worked. Susan and Hannah worked on homework at the table. Harry caught Susan looking thoughtfully at him and Hermione a few times causing him to wonder what she was thinking about.

— — —

That evening, Harry saw Ron put a notice on the bulletin board. He had a good guess as to what it was about, but he still went over and looked anyway. Reading it, he pulled it down and turned to find his friend, who was standing right behind him and glowering.

"Why'd you pull it down?"

Harry supposed the time for their talk had come. "It's still early enough; let's go for a walk and talk."

Ron looked like he didn't care for that idea, but finally nodded, following Harry out of the Tower. Harry led them to an alcove at the end of the floor and they sat on the bench by the window. He suspected the place was used for defending the castle, if that was ever needed.

"Listen, Ron," he put the notice on the bench between them. "Tryouts for the Quidditch team are good and I think you'll do a good job as a coach when we're on the field, but a good coach has to also think of his players." Harry stabbed the notice with a finger. "You can't schedule four practices every week; people will either leave the team or more likely they won't even bother to try out when they read that."

"But it's important," Ron argued. "The beaters last year were terrible and we have to find better ones; and we have only one returning Chaser. We're going to need practice and lots of it."

"Ron, we're not a professional team; we're students. Our classes are more important," Harry shot back.

"You don't care about winning do you?" Ron accused him angrily.

Harry bit back his first response and ran through a meditation exercise for the count to five. "Ron," he said more calmly than he felt, "I like to win at Quidditch too, but I want to stay alive more." His friend blinked at him for a moment, which encouraged Harry. "Quidditch will not keep me alive in a fight with a Death Eater, but the spells and other things I can learn have the potential to keep me alive. I do need some fun in my life and Quidditch is one of the ways I have fun, but it is not my top priority and it is not the top priority of anyone else other than maybe you. This is what I meant by you needing to think of the players."

Ron looked a little surly as he leaned against the wall and thought for a long moment, but he didn't immediately argue either. "We'll have three practices a week then," he said finally.

"Two to start with," Harry told him firmly. "Have tryouts first to see what you have to work with. Maybe you do have three a week, but one or two are partials where it's only the Chasers and you, or only the Beaters and you. If you really want to fail your classes and suffer the consequences of that, that's your choice mate, but I won't let you hurt the entire team."

A sneer Malfoy would have been proud of came over Ron. "You'd go running to McGonagall and tattle to have my badge taken away?"

"Only if you make me, Ron. I care more about keeping my best mate alive than I do about any game," said Harry as he rose and left, leaving a very unhappy but thoughtful friend behind.

* * *

It was his last afternoon class on Tuesday. Harry turned to his girlfriend and to Hermione. "Go on, I need to talk to Flitwick."

As everyone filed out, the professor looked at him. "I assume you need to talk with me before dinner?"

"If I may have a few minutes of your time?" Harry asked very politely.

"Certainly, Mr Potter. Before you start, I would like to say that I noticed your performance today is markedly better than last year - good job," Flitwick commended him.

"Thank you, Professor. I've had time the last few months to realize I needed to take my work more seriously. I suppose," Harry paused briefly, "I suppose that has also prompted this conversation in a way. I've asked for some extra help from Professor McGonagall, which she has agreed to. I'd like to ask you for extra help too, if you're willing."

Flitwick motioned to the student seats and they each took one. "Exactly what are you asking for, Mr Potter?"

Being subtle or sly would not do here, Harry thought. "Professor, I have one major problem and one minor one. I've heard you were a Dueling Champion before you came here. If you could give me some tips on fighting, since I always seem to have to do that, I'd appreciate it."

"That doesn't sound too difficult," Flitwick agreed.

"That's the minor issue. The major one," Harry paused for a deep breath, "is that Professor Dumbledore continues to try to control my life in ways he does not do for anyone else. I would like your help in preventing that. It can be by giving advice, standing up for me when you hear the Headmaster discussing me, or maybe even just listening to me when he frustrates me. Professor McGonagall tells me that my mum was a favorite student of yours, and I hoped you'd help me for her sake.

"If you'd like to know about me and hear some stories about my adventures here at school, I'll be meeting with Professor McGonagall Saturday at one; you're welcome to come. Perhaps that would help you understand why I need this help."

"These adventures would be the ones that Headmaster suddenly awards you points for at the end of the year," he said with some chagrin.

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied. "Perhaps if you have a few stories about my parents, especially my mum, that you'd be willing to share, that'd be welcome too."

Flitwick smiled at him. "I'd be delighted to come see your adventures and share memories of your parents. However, please let me consider how else to support you. I would like to help you, but I need to consider it and discuss it with Professor McGonagall."

"Of course, Professor," Harry said graciously as he rose. "As I told Professor McGonagall, I realize that I'm asking a lot and potentially putting you in a difficult position. However, I believe it to be a good cause that I don't believe it will take very much effort from you."

"I understand," the older man told him. "I'll see you in class on Friday and on Saturday afternoon."

Harry went to Entrance Hall to wait for his friends and join them for dinner. "Kreacher," he called.

The elf popped in. "You called, Master."

Harry held out his book bag. "Please go put this on my bed. Then I want you to go to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and search for a Pensieve to purchase. It doesn't have to be large. It should also be curse free. See what you can find and I'll call you in an hour or so for a report on what you've found."

"Can Kreacher also go into Knockturn Alley and Dewiniaeth Stryd?" the elf asked.

Harry blinked in surprise. "What's that last one? I've never heard of it."

"It is the place of magical shops in Cardiff," Kreacher explained.

"So," Harry sort of thought out loud, "Diagon Alley is in the south, Hogsmeade is in the north, and this Dewiniaeth Stryd is in the middle?"

Kreacher seemed to shrug. "Sometimes one has things the other does not."

Harry nodded and considered the question, as well as how helpful Kreacher was being. "Very well, you may visit all of those places. You are also to not speak of who your master is, who you're purchasing this for, or anything about me."

Kreacher nodded, looking a little sour, but didn't argue before he left.

Hearing footsteps, Harry looked up in time to see the Headmaster come walking towards him.

"Harry…"

"Mr Potter," Harry reminded him.

"Yes, my apologies, I'm afraid I'm not used to the change yet," Dumbledore said good-naturedly. "I just saw that you were talking to Kreacher. Did he come to you?"

"Yes, sir. I called him and he had to come," Harry said, wondering where this was going.

"Ah," Dumbledore looked a little surprised. "I was going to tell you that you probably inherited Sirius's house and other things, as well as help you to test for that, but it seems that is no longer needed. How did you find out?"

"I don't believe that matters," Harry replied neutrally, trying to figure out how to end this conversation.

"I suppose it doesn't," Dumbledore said with some disappointment. "However, it does tie in with another question I had. As you know, the Order of the Phoenix was using the house as a place to meet for the last year or so. I had been concerned as to who was in control of it now, but your control over Kreacher seems to have answered that question.

"However, it seems we can no longer enter it. I wanted to ask if we could continue to use it as we have been."

Harry supposed he wasn't overly surprised by the request, but he was a little annoyed. "Professor, you're all adults and have your own properties." He suddenly brightened as he saw his rescue behind the old man. "Second, this is not a school related matter, so I don't think this is a conversation we need to be having. Susan!"

He stepped around the Headmaster not bothering to see what the reaction was to his decision. As he gave her a hug, he whispered, "I'm glad to see you; thanks for saving me from him."

She whispered back with mirth, "You're welcome; he doesn't look very happy."

"Let's go eat," he told her normally as he stepped back and led her to the Gryffindor tables. He felt that was acceptable since they'd eaten at the Hufflepuff tables for breakfast and lunch - she didn't complain.

"What was that about?" Susan asked as they sat, the rest of his friends not present yet.

"Dumbledore runs a group called the Order of the Phoenix. They try to fight Voldemort and I emphasize the 'try.'" Harry was pleased that she didn't gasp or anything at the Dark Lord's name; her only reaction was a little frown. "They used to meet at my godfather's house, which I recently inherited. He wanted to continue meeting there but couldn't since I locked it. I told him they were all adults and had their own homes.

"He also wondered how I found out about inheriting my godfather's house since he didn't tell me. I learned from the goblins, but I told him it wasn't any of his business. He wasn't pleased with that either."

"I'm sensing a theme here," she commented with a slight smile as she finished putting food on her plate.

"Yeah, I think a number of my problems have been caused by him, so I'm trying to prevent that. I don't hate him; I just don't want anything to do with him." Harry took a drink and looked at her for a moment as a sudden idea solidified. "I'm going to be sharing some things with Professors McGonagall and Flitwick this Saturday afternoon. I'd like you to be there and hear it all; you deserve to know."

Susan stopped eating and looked at him in surprise and delight. Before she could answer, all of his friends came up to the table and ruined the moment.

After all of the greetings and initial questions about where he'd been had been answered, Susan leaned into him and whispered, "Thank you, Harry, for your trust. I'll be there."

He smiled at her, glad she'd accepted. Nothing more was said of it. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to tell his other friends either; but they already knew most of it anyway.

After dinner, Harry promised Susan he'd meet her later and hurried back to his dorm room. There, he called Kreacher to him as he changed his books out for his evening class.

"Master called?" the elf asked after he popped in.

"Did you finish searching for a Pensieve?"

"Kreacher has searched and found only one. It is free of curses and they want 1000 Galleons for it," the elf reported.

"How many memories does it store?"

"The owner says seven." Kreacher stood there waiting, almost patiently but not quite.

Harry was about to tell him to buy it when he had a new thought. "Kreacher, is there a Pensieve in the House of Black?"

"No."

He'd have to remember to ask that before other purchases, he thought as he pulled his vault key out of his pocket and handed it to the elf. "Take this to Gringotts and get only 1000 Galleons out of my vault and purchase the Pensieve you found. You can put it and my key in the first compartment of my trunk here. I want a receipt for it too."

"Yes, Master." Kreacher raised his hand to pop away.

"Wait," Harry stopped him. "Did you find Fletcher and did he have anything of the Blacks?"

The old elf broke into an ugly smile. "Kreacher found him and retrieved some silver items. Also found an heirloom of Master Regulus." Kreacher looked like it pained him to say it, but he said, "Kreacher thanks Master for letting him make Master Regulus's locket safe."

Harry could tell the locket from his former master was important to him. "You may keep it to remember him by. Please go purchase the Pensieve then return to your duties."

"Thank you, Master," Kreacher said and then popped away.

Harry wondered if maybe they would have a working relationship one day.

Grabbing his book bag, he hurried off to his evening class. Reaching it, he saw Professor Babbling sitting at her desk looking at some parchments. Each student sat at their own small table, for this room was set up that way instead of the normal student chair/desks. He saw Wayne Hopkins and Megan Jones of Hufflepuff, as well as Blaise Zabini of Slytherin.

As he took a seat between Jones and Zabini, the professor looked up at him and smiled. "Welcome, Mr Potter. You're not late, but we can start now as it will only be the four of you in this class."

She held up their textbook. "Has anyone not already read the first three chapters of this?"

Harry looked around and noticed that only he and Hopkins had their hands up.

Babbling looked a little disappointed. "I'd hoped all of you had. You'll be behind for this class, so you need to read those chapters plus the next three for next time. We can only go as fast as we need to if you read ahead each time."

Harry raised his hand and Babbling pointed to him. "Professor, I didn't get the book until this last Sunday, but I did read all of this book over the summer." He held up the book he'd ordered shortly after arriving at the orphanage and that Hedwig had delivered.

Babbling brightened. "Oh, that will be helpful. You won't be as lost because that was the previous textbook, but you should still look at the current book.

"Now, this class will be mostly lecture as well as question and answer. In a normal class, you'd also have time do some homework, but won't be possible for this class because of the pace. You'll need to do all of your reading on your own time.

"In Ancient Runes we'll look at various," she held up her hands and did air quotes for, "runes", before saying, "for various languages, starting with Norse. Who can tell me what runes are?"

Zabini raised his hand and she pointed to him. "They are symbols used to communicate with. Some believe they were the first alphabet for written language."

"Very good, three points to Slytherin," Babbling said and obviously pleased. "That is the most common use and answer. There is a second use, anyone?"

Harry raised his hand when no one said anything for a few seconds. "They are used in warding. Some believe they are the basis of spells. In fact, it's believed that our wand movements are the runes of some unknown magical language."

"Very good," she praised, "take six points for Gryffindor for two answers."

"Professor," at her nod, he continued, "if that were true, then why do some spells have the same wand moment of only a jab, and even those spells that have a normal movement or rune, I've seen some of the professors do the spell with a very simplified moment, usually only a jab? That would seem inconsistent with the idea that wand movements are runes."

Babbling beamed at him. "Excellent observation, Mr Potter! Does anyone have an answer?" When no one answered, she told them, "That is normally answered in the last year of Arithmancy. However, I'll give anyone an extra five points on the first test if they can find the answer before next class … with the condition that you must do the research yourself and be willing to make a promise that you had no outside help getting the answer.

"Now, open your books to chapter two and take a look at some of the Norse runes so we can discuss them…

— — —

At the end of class, Harry put his things away and understood why they didn't normally have triple periods - three hours for a class seemed like forever.

In the corridor, the four walked together.

"Potter, I didn't know you were into a class this academic," Zabini commented.

Harry looked at the Slytherin with amusement at the comment/question. "I wanted something different. I really would have rather taken some more useful electives, but they aren't offered."

"Like what?" Jones asked him.

"Oh, finance, stuff about the laws or the Ministry, healing, all kinds of stuff should be offered for our last two years, or so I'd think," Harry told them.

"That would be useful," Hopkins agreed.

Zabini stopped for a moment and looked at Harry as if evaluating him. "Is it true you didn't grow up in a Wizarding house?"

"Yes," Harry answered as he stopped and looked at the boy.

"Too bad," Zabini commented before turning a different direction. "Later."

Harry shrugged, not sure what that was about, but he was pleased that Zabini wasn't like Malfoy and he had a hope that the two of them could be friends in some way. As he walked towards his destination, Megan Jones said, "Shouldn't you have turned back there?"

He smiled at her. "I would if I wasn't going to see my girlfriend."

She smiled at him and gave him a penetrating look. "How's that going?"

"So far, so good," he answered a little vaguely, not sure how much of it was really her business, even if she was a friend of Susan's. Maybe this was an opportunity, he thought. "Do you think Susan is happy being my girlfriend?"

"You haven't screwed up yet," she answered.

Wayne laughed. "That's not a ringing endorsement."

"A lot better than you with Lils," she shot back, causing the Hufflepuff boy to go silent.

They rounded a corner and Harry saw Susan and Hannah leaning against a wall. Harry walked up to his girlfriend and put an arm around her waist. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself," she told him before looking at her friend. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

Hannah smiled and nodded before joining Megan and Wayne on their way back to their common room.

Susan pulled him into an alcove. "Good class?"

"Yeah, I think it will be, but three hours is very long and I think my brain turned to mush from all that thinking," he joked.

She laughed lightly but kissed him. He kissed her back a few times before walking her back to the entrance of her common room.

Harry was very pleased, though tired, as he walked to his common room.

Hermione waved him over when he arrived. "How was class? Did you like Professor Babbling?"

He noticed again that it was her and Ginny sitting alone at a table; Ron was on the other side of the room talking to Seamus, probably talking about girls based on their expressions and the direction they were looking. He dropped into a seat at their table. "Three hours is long for a class, but I think I'll like it. Yeah, Professor Babbling was interesting in a good way. I think I earned almost twenty points in there, three to six points at a time."

"Good for you, Harry," she said brightly. "That's her way of saying she likes you and your work."

He started to go to bed but stopped as an idea hit him. "Hermione, I'm so tired I'm glad we don't have patrol tonight. Is it possible to request we don't patrol on a specific night?"

"Yes. I assume you'd want that to be Tuesdays?" she asked based on how he looked and that he had asked.

"If you don't mind, could we?" He hoped that could be worked out.

"Of course, Harry," she agreed readily. "I can understand and I'll take care of it."

"Thank you and good-night." He looked at Ginny and told her, "Good-night," as well before heading up. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Wednesday would be another long day, Harry knew, but there was no helping it. On the other hand, he hoped to get some information out of one of his best friends this evening.

After breakfast, Susan had Herbology as did Hermione, so it wasn't hard to escape from Ron. Harry used that double period to sneak off to the Room of Requirement. There, he brought the DA room from last year back, along with a number of wooden targets.

He worked on soundless spell casting for a few minutes, finally having some success with the lighting charm. The vast majority of the time he spent working on his skill of controlling the air.

With some effort, he was able to create a smallish ball of air, which appeared to be milky white and therefore visible. He'd hoped he could do something like that while making it invisible, but he wasn't surprised at the results since the steps of air that he'd created to leave the orphanage were also visible.

He soon found that he could direct them at the wooden targets very easily. Basically, if he could see it, he could hit it. He also found that he didn't really have to see it if he knew where it was, or he supposed he could interpret that as if he could see it in his mind's eye.

Towards the end of his time, he stopped practicing with the balls of air and tried for a spear instead. He wasn't quite as successful, but he was still very encouraged by his work and knew his efforts would be successful given more practice. With Susan having two double-periods of Herbology a week, he thought it wouldn't take long for him to master some of this.

— — —

Harry sat with Susan in the library, both of them working on their Charms homework. Hannah sat at their table also doing homework. To his pleasant surprise, Susan put her hand on his while they read; the gesture was simple, but the casual way it was done thrilled him. It spoke of caring and normalcy; he couldn't help smiling at her when he looked over, something that amused both of the girls.

As the two finished Charms, Harry pulled out his Potions book. "Susan," he whispered, "can we look through this now?"

"Sure," she told him and made room so he could set it between them and they moved closer together to both look at it.

As they flipped through it, she'd stop him occasionally for her to look at a change to the potion recipes. "This is very clever," she said pointing at one.

Harry studied it for a moment, but could come to no definite conclusion. He started to understand why she had made an Outstanding on her Potions OWL compared to his Exceeds Expectation. "I can see crushing the Flaxweed seed instead of slicing it would make it more potent, but why is that clever?"

"Because it gives the Potion more of its essence and creates less bulk, so you don't have to cook it as long and you get a slightly higher quality paste," she told him. "If you look at most of the other pastes, they're the same way - no bulky ingredients. I don't know why this one was different in our book."

"OK." He could see the pattern now that she pointed it out. Turning the page, a note in the margin caught his eye. "Look at this." He pointed to the note:

 _Muffliato, fills the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing, good for conversations that you don't want overheard._

Harry studied the diagrammed wand movement as he said, "Let's try it. Hannah can tell us if it works."

"I don't know, trying random spells can be dangerous." At his pointed look, she sighed and added, "But I can see the usefulness of that one and it is an area effect instead of being cast at a single person."

"Hannah," Harry whispered fiercely to get her attention. When she looked up, he said, "I'm going to try a spell that should keep our conversation quiet. Tell me what you hear, all right?"

The blonde shrugged and nodded, looking curious.

Glancing at the spell diagram one more time, then looking up to see that the librarian was not looking their way, Harry quietly cast " _Muffliato_ " and did the motion, including a wave around himself and Susan. "All right," he said quietly, hoping it was working yet not completely willing to shout just yet.

The two looked at Hannah who just shook her head.

"Can you hear us?" Susan asked in a normal voice, who received another shake from her friend.

"Wow, this really works," Harry said in a very normal voice before ending the spell with a quiet "Finite". Looking at Hannah, he asked, "What did it sound like?"

Hannah whispered across the table. "I couldn't hear much at all, sort of just like a quiet wind or maybe a bit of buzzing like insects at a distance."

"Brilliant," Harry breathed.

Susan turned the book back to the inside cover. "Whoever this mysterious Prince person was, he or maybe she certainly knew Potions and did a good job on that spell."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Let's see what else is in here."

By the time they left for dinner, they had found a number of other small corrections and additions to Potions, a hex for causing toenails to grow very quickly, a jinx to cause someone's tongue to stick to the roof of their mouth so they couldn't talk, some spell named "Levicorpus" that didn't have an explanation, and a curse named "Sectumsempra" that said it was to be used on enemies. Harry hadn't dared try any of those in the library, but maybe he would during his personal practice time.

— — —

When ten o'clock came, Harry and Hermione left for their first patrol together. Harry made sure he had his Marauder's Map on him.

"So, we just sort of walk around for an hour?" he asked as they headed out of Gryffindor Tower a few minutes after ten.

"Sort of; we do have half of the castle assigned to us. As I told you the other day, patrols are drawn up so we either do ten to eleven, or eleven to midnight, two teams per hour. Since there are four patrols a night and twelve pairs of Prefects, that means we only have to do a patrol every third night," she explained. "The Head Boy and Head Girl are available if a team is unable to take their turn."

"I assume that the first hour is the busiest because people are hurrying back to their dorms, maybe a few minutes late?" he asked as she led him sort of in the direction of the library.

"Usually," she replied.

With no one being seen after five minutes, Harry stopped near the main staircase and said, "I know everyone can't do this, but it's really pointless for us to walk around," as he dug into his robes.

"It's really the only way to catch them, Harry," she told him with some exasperation at the obvious.

"No it's not, but as I said, it's not for everyone." He unfolded his Map and said as he placed his wand against it, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"That's cheating," she told him, but walked over anyway and looked.

"Let's see, there's a small group of Ravenclaws hurrying back, probably from the library; but they'd probably make it to their common room before we could get there, so we can ignore them," he said as he pointed to them. "Hmm, here's a pair of people out," he pointed at the couple.

"They're the seventh year Hufflepuff Prefects and they're scheduled for this time with us," she replied and he nodded his acknowledgement.

"There's Filch," he said, pointing to a spot on the other side of the castle and two floors down. "Too bad it doesn't show his cat. You know, I don't see any other students out of bounds, so this looks pretty easy." He made his way over to the nearest steps and took a seat.

"Harry, we _have_ to walk around," she told him, trying to get him moving.

"Hermione, I'll leave the map out for a moment and we can watch for people that way, but take a seat. There's something I want to talk about." At her questioning look, he patted the stairs beside him.

Shaking her head at him, she took the seat. "Just for a moment."

"Fine, just for a _few minutes_ ," he acknowledged.

"What's your question? I thought I went over all the rules for being a Prefect."

Harry looked at her for a moment. "It has almost nothing to do with being a Prefect." He wondered if this was something he shouldn't know, but felt like he had to ask. "I want to know what's up with you."

She blinked and looked at him for a long moment before she finally asked, "What do you mean?"

The hint of nervousness let him know that she was hiding something. She was normally not very good at hiding secrets, at least now that he knew her so well. "Hermione, I'd have to be completely blind not to notice the change in you since the end of last year. Ginny seems to have changed a little too. I don't know if you've both changed for the same reason or not, and I could be wrong about her as I don't know her as well, but you've definitely changed."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she tried to deny it. "I can't speak for Ginny, but I'm fine."

Harry harrumphed. "Oh Merlin, you're trying to channel me. If I had any doubts, you've just erased them. What's up?"

"Nothing's _up_ ," she told him emphatically as she grabbed the Map from him and studied it intently.

"You're avoiding the conversation and you won't look at me, and that doesn't count the ways you've been acting so differently," he countered.

"I am not avoiding this, there's just nothing to discuss. I'm being normal," she protested.

"Uh-huh, right." He looked at her still studying the Map. "You know, if it was the other way around, you'd be nagging me until you found out what was going on. Sounds like a plan, I suppose." His calculated statement struck as intended, causing her to turn and glare at him.

"Harry James Potter-"

"Hermione Jane Granger," he interrupted her with a grin. "See, I can do it too, but that doesn't change any of the facts."

"Time's up, let's walk." She stood suddenly and left, taking his Map with her, causing him to have to follow.

"Fine, we're walking, but what's going on," he persisted.

She hesitated for long enough, he thought he was going to have to goad her again. "Why do you think I'm different?"

He supposed he should claim at least a small victory for that as it was tantamount to her admitting there were differences. "I said there was almost nothing regarding being a Prefect, but for one, it's really obvious to me that you don't want to be a Prefect if Ron was also. I mean, you told me to tell McGonagall that.

"In addition, it's blindingly obvious you don't want anything to do with Ron at all any more. If he comes over, you move to the other side of me so I'm always between you two. You try to make it look natural as you can, but it's every, freaking, time," he pointed out, emphasizing the last three words.

"Language, Harry," she reprimanded him.

He ignored her interruption. "Ginny does it too, but it was harder to figure that out as she's not around us as much. It's like you both think he's out to get you." He found it interesting that she flinched at the last part. "Look, I'm willing to help you, even beyond being a Prefect so you don't have to be around Ron as much; it's the least I could do after all the help you've given me over the years, but I think I deserve to know what's going on."

When she looked down at the Map and started to dither, he reached out and gently took it from her. "Sorry, but no abusing this; it's the only one I have," he said with a grin. A glance at it showed no one was nearby.

She nodded apologetically, but still said nothing.

"I could also say that it looks like you're afraid of boys…" he stopped as she stopped walking, although she also turned from him and looked at the wall. He blinked at her and studied her slightly pink neck, or at least what little of it he could see. "Hermione?" he called gently as he tried to figure this out.

Hermione turned suddenly and launched herself at him, crying quietly.

"Hey," he said as he patted her back and tried to comfort her, hoping he was doing a better job than when Cho had cried on his shoulder; he'd done better with Susan. "Hey, it'll be all right," he tried again. At least she wasn't loud or soaking his shoulder completely.

After a minute or so, she sniffed once loudly as she pulled back and rubbed her cheeks and eyes.

"Are you all right now?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said quietly and a little hoarsely.

"Tell me and I'll try to help. If I can help get rid of a troll for you, maybe I can help this too." It brought a small smile to her, as he'd intended.

"I don't know, it's…" she tried again and had to pause. "At times, I think it's all in my mind."

Harry remembered to look down at the Map when he heard a noise that didn't sound natural. "Filch is coming this way; let's walk even if it's slowly. Think about it and you can tell me when we're alone again." He saw her nod so he led her forward and she continued to try to make her face look more normal.

Mrs Norris the cat came around the corner, what he'd obviously heard. A moment later, the caretaker came too.

"Mr Filch," Harry said with a nod of acknowledgement, causing the older man to stop and scowl.

"What are you … oh, right, you're a Prefect now. Best be back in your dorms at the end of your hour." The man left, hurrying after his cat.

The two continued on and Harry shook his head. "He seems so unhappy; I don't understand why he's here."

"Maybe he doesn't have anywhere else to go," she commented, her emotions seemingly back under control.

"Perhaps," he agreed neutrally. "So, what is the problem? Ron or boys in general? I question the second option because you don't see to be bothered by me."

Hermione snorted. "You don't count, I trust you, Harry; I trust you the most next to my parents, and even over them in some cases."

He was surprised by her admission. "Err, thanks. I do trust you as well. In fact, if I had a sister, I'd want her to be a lot like you."

"A lot?" she questioned him.

"A lot," he replied with a grin. "No one's perfect."

She nodded and seemed to relax a little more. "I can only speak for me," she told him. "I can't rightfully share about Ginny."

"I understand." He realized she'd ignored the other part and assumed she felt the same - that he was like her brother.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, obviously trying to relax a bit more. "It started last June. Think back to when I returned from the hospital and found you at the lake. Do you remember what I said?"

"You said several things, Hermione. Which one?"

"When I asked what next year would be like. Then you promised me something," she prompted him.

"Hmm, I remember saying I'd protect you … oh, right, you said you were scared because last year had been bad and you wondered what this year would be like. I assume that was because Voldemort was now officially known to be back?"

"A little, I…" She couldn't go on for a moment. "Harry, I almost died. I … they also said they almost couldn't repair it and I'm very lucky I'm still able to have children. Dolohov really hurt me - badly."

"I'm really sorry," he told her as he put a hand on her shoulder as they both stopped walking.

"I spent four days in St Mungo's. I had a private room because the other bed was empty, but my room was next to Ron's." She paused for another deep breath. "The second night, I was just falling asleep, which I needed badly because of my nightmares since our adventure. I kept seeing Dolohov and Malfoy come after me, as well as the others."

He nodded and gently rubbed her arm and shoulder. He could understand, having his own share of nightmares after their adventures.

"My room was mostly dark and just as I was falling asleep, my door opened and I heard a low voice asking - demanding, 'Where are you you little Mudblood?' I swear, my nightmare came alive and I couldn't tell if it was real or a dream.

"Then suddenly, my sheet was yanked back and there he stood leaning over me and breathing heavily. I couldn't move. I was so scared. My wound was also still so newly healed I wasn't supposed to move much lest I tear it open and do permanent damage.

"Oh god, then he was grabbing at my breasts and I screamed. All I could do was scream and slap at his hands, but that made him angrier." She threw herself at him again and just held on as she took fast deep breaths.

Harry was angry for her and he wanted to hit whoever had done this to her.

Hermione sniffed again after the long moment it took to get herself back under control. "They came rushing in and pulled him off me and checked me. Fortunately, I didn't tear my wound back open, but it wasn't until they pulled him near the doorway and the light that I could see him. It wasn't Dolohov from my nightmares, it was Ron with his arms still in bandages."

Harry hugged her tightly as she ducked her head and buried her face in the top of his chest. All he could do was to hold her in the horror of understanding. He felt so conflicted because it was his best friend, yet he still wanted to beat him to a pulp for attacking Hermione.

One small thought nagged at him and hoped it was the answer. "Hermione," he said quietly. "Did Ron know what he was doing?"

After a moment, she shook her head and pulled back a little so she could look him in the face again. "No," she said very quietly. "They came back to me to next day and told me that Ron had no memory of coming into my room; in fact, they said he'd taken a turn for the worse and that he'd be there longer than I would.

"I … I don't want to hold it against him, like we do for Imperius victims, but," her voice changed to almost a whimper, "I still see him in my nightmares pulling my sheet off and trying to pull my hospital gown off. Sometimes he even succeeds."

"That part's not real," he told her, his heart breaking for her.

"I know, but it doesn't feel any less real. Between him and Dolohov, I'm so scared; you're really the only boy I fully trust besides my dad," she admitted.

"Oh Merlin," he swore quietly. The memory of their real task for this evening hit him suddenly and he pulled her arm gently off of him so he could see the time on her watch. He was relieved to see that it was still a few minutes before eleven. "Come on, we need to head back. We can talk more in the common room if you need to."

Hermione nodded and let go so they could start their journey back, albeit slowly. "Thanks, for making me tell you," she said, still quietly, but sounding more relieved. "I think that helped." She looked at him with red eyes. "It helps because I know you can fix anything."

He couldn't help but smile at that. "Just like I know that telling you things helps because you know everything?"

Her smile grew slightly as she sniffed and wiped her face again. "Yeah, just like that."

They walked in silence until they were near their tower and saw the seventh year Prefects coming down the stairs.

"Everything all right?" the girl, Judith, asked with concern as she looked at Hermione.

"Yeah, we're fine," Harry answered so Hermione wouldn't have to. "Just talking and I think we got a little too serious and we're a little too tired."

The seventh year boy, Gary, nodded. "The first hour isn't too bad, but when you have to do the second hour, you might want to catch a nap earlier in the day." He looked at Judith, who nodded when he said, "It's easy to say the wrong thing when you're tired."

Harry decided it was best if they thought he'd said the wrong thing to his friend. "Lesson learned and all that," Harry agreed. "It's been quiet, good-night."

The two seventh years told them good-night and started their patrol. Inside the tower, Harry led them to a couch that wasn't near the few who were left - most had already gone to bed.

"I'll do my best to help you and be the buffer. Is there anything else I need to do?" he asked and offered.

She shook her head. "No, you've been great about all of this."

"Do I need to talk to Ginny too?"

Hermione thought for a moment. "I don't know; I'll ask her. Maybe it'd help, but her situation is different."

"OK." He gave her hug, which she returned very willingly. "Good-night," he told her as he stood.

She stood with him and looked at him and smiled, before she suddenly learned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Harry. Susan is a very lucky girl to have someone like you," she told him before she hurried up the stairs to her room.

Harry shook his head and headed to his room. He was glad he'd been of some help to her, but he'd honestly been flying by blind luck the entire conversation.

As he entered his dorm room, he saw his dorm mates settling in. The sight of Ron coming out of the bathroom brought his anger up so fast that he had to close his eyes and will himself to relax as he put tight reins on his extra power. He was going to do his best to treat Ron like the victim of an Imperius curse, despite how hard that was at the moment.

"Problem, mate?" Ron asked as he neared his bed and Harry.

Harry wanted to beat the "normalcy" of that response out of his friend. Forcing himself to be as calm as possible, he opened his eyes and saw his friend looking at him in concern. I am a Gryffindor, Harry thought. "Got a moment? I have a question for you?" He pointed at the bathroom and Ron seemed to understand and walked that way as their other dorm mates were climbing into bed and also giving the two friends curious looks.

In the bathroom, Harry pulled out his wand and waved it appropriately as he said, " _Muffiato_."

"What was that?" Ron asked, looking at Harry's wand with suspicion.

"Just a new privacy spell I learned. I, uh, I didn't want to embarrass myself in case the others heard," he said, pointing at the other room.

Ron brightened suddenly. "Oh, right. So, what's up?"

Harry really hoped Hermione was right. "Say Ron, do you remember how many days you were in St Mungo's, you know, recovering? I wasn't sure when my letter found you."

Ron shrugged. "I'm told I was there for like two weeks, but I don't remember much. I'm told Hermione was there too, but I don't remember seeing her. It's all a blank until just a few days before I went home. I think that's when Mum gave me your letter. Why?"

"I was curious." Harry could tell he needed to say more and hoped his story made sense. "You know I had some trouble at my relatives at the beginning of the summer and I was wondering if my letter had reached you the same day and if anyone else had seen it."

"Oh, right. No, sorry; I don't think Mum gave it to me until a few days later." Now Ron looked a little embarrassed. "I hope you don't mind, but I think Mum read it."

"No worries," Harry told him with relief that had nothing to do with what Ron thought. "Thanks." He took the spell down and they both went to bed a few minutes later.

As Harry made himself comfortable in his bed, he considered the situation. It seemed like Ron really had no idea what he had done. Yet, Hermione's feelings were very real. Those two things were at odds with one another and seemed like they were going to cause problems eventually. Then Ginny seemed to have some sort of a problem too that he inferred was similar to Hermione's but different. He had no idea why Ginny would be afraid of her own brother - if that was really her problem.

The whole situation was confusing and crazy. Still, at least it wasn't a problem with Voldemort, so his goal of a normal year still seemed achievable.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	5. Reactions

**Chapter 5 - Reactions**

Thursday morning Harry decided he needed to talk to Ginny and so he started heading down the corridor, finding her as she walked to class with a group of her female year-mates. His conversation with Hermione last night came to mind and he decided just to get this out of the way.

"Ginny!" he called to the group a little ways in front of him.

The redhead turned, looking surprised. "Harry?" She stopped and waited on him before they walked together with no one right next to them.

"Hey," he said quietly, "I talked to Hermione last night about her problem and she said that helped, and while she didn't say what was going on with you, I've noticed that you are acting a little different too." He watched her face go slack and practically freeze. "If you want to talk about it, I'm available and maybe I can help."

"All right, I'll think about it," she said plainly after a moment.

In a way, he wasn't surprised at her reaction. He supposed Ginny was trying to convince herself that nothing was wrong, using the same tactics of denial that Hermione had used.

After a moment, they came to Flitwick's room and Harry walked in with her. She looked at him strangely. "This isn't your class."

"No it's not," he replied with a grin as he walked past her to the front of the room.

"Can I help you, Mr Potter?" Flitwick asked.

"Yes, Professor. I was wondering when you next had a few free minutes for some advice."

Flitwick looked at the clock on the wall. "I have a few minutes now if it's very quick."

"All right," Harry agreed easily. "Professor Snape is very insistent on us learning silent casting, but he hasn't given us any tips on how to do it and I haven't found any in our book. Could you give me a few ideas on how to make learning that easier, other than practicing for a few years?"

The professor chuckled for a moment. "Ah, I wonder if he's trying to help you by forcing you to learn seventh year material early given the war that's starting, or if he just doesn't like your class?"

"I would vote for both," Harry said trying to match his professor's jovial expression.

"Possibly. There are two general methods…" The professor explained each very briefly.

Harry thanked the man and left as the bell to start the class period rung. He went to the Room of Requirement and practiced silent casting for a half-hour. He could only do one spell at the end, but it was enough for now. The rest of his free time he spent working on his "air spear". When he left, his spears weren't as good as the "air blocks" he'd used for his steps, but he could send a spear across the room and split thin boards. It was a good start, he thought.

— — —

After lunch, the group of sixth years headed to Defense class. Harry held Susan's hand and thought about her. She wasn't the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, but she was above average in attractiveness. Part of what made her that way was her great smile and general "nice girl" look; he thought her strawberry-blonde hair added to that. He also thought she had nice calves, which he'd noticed because she always seemed to wear skirts.

Of course, there was a lot more to Susan than just her physical looks. She was like a "rock" - in a good way. Stable, always there, looked for the best in everyone, supportive, were all good ways to describe her, he thought. In many ways, those were things he needed in his life. In some ways, it made him wonder what life would have been like had he been sorted into Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor. If he'd always been around her and others like her, how would his life been different?.

On the not as good side, she'd given him a few looks he hadn't figured out yet, causing him to wonder what was going through her mind; but he chalked that up as unimportant for the moment.

They sat together in class and waited for Snape to arrive. At least he didn't lock his door here like he had for Potions. Harry guessed it was because there wasn't really anything to protect in here.

Snape walked into the room and faced them. He looked them over as if doing a count, not bothering with the class roll. "Send your homework to the front." He conjured a box and walked to the front desk of each row. As the parchments were passed forward, the person in the front placed the stack given to them into the box.

It had been an easy assignment, a single sheet on good reasons for silent casting as well as difficulties that might be encountered.

"Stand and move to the sides of the room; half of the class on each side. The person opposite you should not be from your house," Snape commanded then looked the lines over as they formed. When all were in place, he shifted a few people around.

Harry saw that Malfoy had been moved down to be across from him. His previous partner, Susan, had been moved over and stood next to Malfoy now and was partnered with Hermione.

"Stinging hexes, silently, just like last time. We'll spend fifteen minutes on this. Begin." Snape watched the class with his wand in hand and beside him.

His first attempt didn't work, but Harry was pleased to see that Malfoy's didn't either. Concentrating on what he needed to do, he whispered so softly he couldn't even hear himself over all the cloth rustling all over the classroom. A few pale pink sparks came out of his wand.

Encouraged, Harry did it again only to have his voice boom the spell word and cause almost everyone to jump and stop what they were doing in surprise.

"That will be twenty points from Gryffindor, Potter for not following directions." Snape's eyes looked almost gleeful, although his facial express was his usual one.

Hoping the Amplification spell was still on him, Harry asked in a normal voice. "Since you didn't tell us…" His voice boomed even louder in the room, causing all the students to cover their ears and Snape to hastily throw a Finite at him.

"That's another twenty points from Gryffindor for talking," Snape told him and causing Harry to receive glares from his fellow Gryfs.

Harry raised his hand and waited, with everyone looking at him.

Eventually, Snape called on him because it seemed like the class was paused for him. "What is it, Potter? Can't understand what 'no talking' means?" he asked sarcastically, earning a few snickers from the Slytherins plus an full laugh from Malfoy.

"Exactly, Professor. If the person standing two feet from me couldn't hear me, isn't that silent?" He looked at Hermione and asked, "You couldn't hear me, could you?"

Snape didn't give her a chance to answer. "As I so clearly demonstrated, there are spells to show that even being very quiet isn't good enough. Now try again." He cast a colorless spell at Harry.

Harry had no doubt that it would amplify any sound he made. To test that, he snorted as if something was in his throat; he even put his hand up as if trying to cover his mouth for a sneeze. While not as loud as his voice before, it was still very loud.

"That's another ten points from Gryffindor for being an idiot," Snape said.

Harry didn't protest, instead, he just mouthed the spell as he pushed as much power into the spell as he could and a bright pink beam shot across the room and hit a very surprised Malfoy in the face, causing him to scream and fall to his knees holding his face.

"Potter!" Snape said angrily as he strode towards his student.

Harry pointed his wand at himself and did an overpowered Finite. "Yes Professor?" he asked in a normal voice. "I followed your instructions exactly."

Snape froze and turned, looking at him with disbelief.

"Yes, Professor. As you can see, I can do two spells silently," Harry told him calmly but with a smug look.

"Detention for your cheek and a zero for the day. Get out of my class; I don't want to see you for the rest of the day," Snape ordered, a hint of anger in his voice.

Without saying another word, Harry whispered, " _Accio_ ". Catching his book bag, he slung it over his shoulder and sauntered out of the room as if he didn't have a care.

Once out of the class, he turned down the corridor and walked to the other end before he stopped and softly called, "Kreacher, come."

The elf popped in. "What does Master want?"

He was back to his surly self, but Harry didn't care at the moment. "I need my new Pensieve. Please bring it to me immediately."

Kreacher popped away and almost immediately back with a stone bowl about the size of a Quaffle cut in half and covered in Runes.

"Thank you, Kreacher. You may return to what you were doing." When the elf left, Harry knocked quietly on the door in front of him. A moment later, the door to the Transfiguration classroom opened. McGonagall didn't look pleased to be interrupted. Her expression turned to surprise when she saw it was him.

"What _is_ the matter, Mr Potter?"

"Professor Snape took fifty points from me, gave me detention, and kicked me out of class for the rest of the day. I was hoping to discuss this with you, or perhaps even show it to you," he told her as he indicated the Pensieve in his hand.

Her surprise grew, but she waved him in. He saw her classroom held the first year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws on the classic matchstick to needle lesson. She took him to the front of the class where he put his stone bowl on her desk and his book bag on the floor. While everyone watched, he drew the memory out of his head and placed it in the bowl.

McGonagall looked over the class. "Mr Potter is a Prefect and he will help you while I'm away for a few minutes. He better _not_ have to give me a report of any bad behavior." She gave him a look like he better behave too before she tapped her wand on her desk and then placed her hand in the stone bowl and disappeared.

Harry turned to the class and saw a number of wide eyes, looking both at him and at the disappearance of their teacher. He grinned at them and asked, "Has anyone completed a full transfiguration yet?" All he saw were shaking heads. "Right then, this isn't hard once you get the feel for it. All Transfiguration is really, is one thing – and that one thing is a very hard application of visualization … and then pushing your magic when required.

"What I mean by that is that you must very carefully and completely visualize what you have and then what you want. See the wood, feel it; in your mind, see the needle, imagine it that it's hard and shiny and pointy on one end. Right?" No one said anything, so he tried again, "Right?"

Finally a little blonde Gryffindor girl timidly repeated, "Right."

"That's it," he encouraged them. "Now take a moment and get the visualizations in your mind. Once you have that, reach down inside yourself, grab your magic as best you can, and push it out as you do the spell. That's really forcing your magic, which is helpful the first time you try something new. You won't need to do that after you have practiced, but it helps now as you learn. Go on, try it."

He watched as they looked at him, and then at their matchsticks. Some of them made a pained face before waving their wand. It took a few tries, but a Ravenclaw boy finally said with awe, "It changed; I have a metal matchstick."

"Good start," Harry told him as he grabbed the box of matchsticks before walking over and looking at the boy's work. Placing a new matchstick down on the desk, he said, "This time remember to visualize the shape you want it to change to. Try again."

"Ooh, mine looks like a needle," the blonde Gryffindor in the front said.

Harry walked over to see her wooden needle. "Good, now change the material next time," he said as he put a new matchstick in front of her.

"It won't do anything," a Gryffindor boy complained. "I've got a bad matchstick."

Walking over, Harry did the spell and the matchstick changed smoothly into a metal needle before he reverted it back. "It worked for me, so that means the matchstick is fine. Stop for a moment, take a few breaths and relax. Being frustrated makes it harder. Maybe don't try to do the whole thing the first time; instead, try just changing it to metal. Once you get that, then you can try adding the shape. Here's another matchstick for when you make the spell work later." He put a new matchstick on the desk to encourage him.

"I did it!" the Ravenclaw boy from earlier exclaimed.

"Excellent! I'll make sure McGonagall gives you points." Harry gave him another matchstick. "Do it again because practice makes perfect. After you do that one, help the person next to you."

"I did it too," the blonde at the front cried.

Harry walked over. "Jolly good, points for you too. See everyone?" He looked around. "It can be done and isn't all that hard. Sure, the books may be a bit boring and not fun to read…" he noticed about half the class suddenly going wide-eyed and looking a little to the side and behind him. "…but you need to learn it anyway. It will be helpful the further you go. Also, pay attention to Professor McGonagall; you're very lucky to have someone as good as she is teaching you."

He turned as if to go help someone and then stopped when he noticed the Professor by her desk. "Oh good, you're back, Professor," he said normally as if he hadn't known she was there before, despite the clues that had prompted him to change his mini-speech. "Several of the students have been successful and deserve points, I believe. A number of them have also done partial transfigurations and are close."

McGonagall moved her examining look from him to the desks of the students, handing out fifteen points to Gryffindor and ten to Ravenclaw, for three and two students respectively.

She looked at him for a moment before she told him, "Very good job, Mr Potter. Take seventy-five points for Gryffindor for your assistance in teaching. Also, don't cancel your evening plans because your detention will be with me and it will be very brief. I'd suggest you return your Pensieve to your trunk now."

"Thank you, Professor." He was very pleased as he put the memory back in his head before grabbing his things and leaving.

— — —

After class dismissed, Minerva McGonagall closed and locked the door to her classroom. Returning to her desk, she did a quick double-tap of her wand on a specific part of her desk and ghostly scene popped and started playing.

She had a recording crystal in her desk to record parts of her class when she thought it necessary; it had to be replaced after a single use, but she thought today was justified. She watched and listened to the five or so minutes that Harry taught her class while she'd been gone. Since she was alone, she allowed herself a very pleased smile. She also picked up a teaching tip from what she thought was a very promising teacher in the making.

— — —

A little before dinner, Harry sat at the Gryffindor table reading a book he'd been looking forward to investigating all week. There was a page of parchment on the table in front of him too.

As he laughed to himself, he felt the seat on his right being taken. Looking over, he saw his girlfriend and received a kiss on the cheek.

"Looks like you're having fun," she told him as the seat on his left was taken. "What do you have?"

"I am because this is my godfather's journal. I don't think he started it until his third year and the entries aren't frequent, but it's been a lot of fun so far. I was just reading about one of the pranks on the Slytherins. I've never really thought much about it, but he, my mother, and my father were all in the same year as Snape." He looked to his left to see a scowling friend. "Hi Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Hello Harry," she said a little coolly. "Are you going to ignore all the work I did for you?" she asked as she pointed at the parchment on the table.

"I've already looked through it. Thanks for the work; it was useful." He turned back to Susan. "So what happened after I was sent out of class?"

"Not much really," the Hufflepuff replied. "He put the sound amplification spell on all of us and had us practicing the rest of the period while he worked on Malfoy. Malfoy looked mostly normal by the time class was over."

"Did anyone else manage?" Harry asked them, looking at both girls.

"No," Hermione replied. "We're not going to have our study group since you have detention tonight, are we?"

Harry grinned at her. "Yes, we'll still have it. My detention will be very brief, Professor McGonagall said." He pointed at their hour glass on the wall.

"What happened?" Hermione gasped. "It's like we gained points, not lost them."

"I had a little talk with McGonagall. While she watched my memory of the class, I taught some first years how to turn a matchstick into a needle. I'm sure you remember the lesson." He saw Hermione nodding with a fond look. "She gave me 75 points for that and said that my detention was with her and it would be brief."

Susan chuckled and shook her head. "Only you, Harry."

The others came in and Harry had to repeat his story and receive many chuckles. Ron gave him a high-five for hitting Malfoy with the spell in class.

— — —

"You should probably wait here," Harry told Susan. "I shouldn't be long." He knocked on the door and Professor McGonagall opened it.

"Mr Potter, right on time. Please come in." She noticed Susan and smiled ever so slightly. "I'll return him to you in a moment, Miss Bones."

"Thank you, Professor," she said politely before the door was closed.

Inside her office, Harry realized she didn't offer him a seat nor did she take one. "Mr Potter, I have two pieces of advice for you.

"First, I would suggest you avoid Professor Snape until your next class. He was not pleased that I overturned his detention, but he couldn't stop me either." She gave him a slightly smug look. "You should also be on your best behavior around him for a few weeks too. If he repeats any of his shenanigans, please come see me. I found his behavior in your memory to be most unprofessional. I also thought your reaction was much better than how you reacted to similar troubles last year."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Second, while I know you told me last year that you wanted to be an Auror, I think you should also consider being a teacher. You did as well as I did in teaching them and perhaps better in a few cases as over half of the class was successful before the end of the period. The pace of learning is not usually that high," she told him.

Harry blushed a little and looked down for a moment. "Thank you, Professor. I was only finishing what you started."

"Perhaps," she said lightly, "but part of it was inspired. I've never taught first years to 'push' their magic, yet that seemed to be very helpful to them."

"Something that's worked for me," he said quietly.

"Nevertheless, you did a good job and I probably should have given you more than the twenty-five points I did.

"Now, I believe you have a young lady waiting for you. I will give you a free piece of personal advice, Mr Potter, you should never keep a lady waiting," she told him as she opened the door.

"Thank you, Professor. Have a pleasant evening," he told her as he left.

As they walked through the corridors hand-in-hand, Susan looked at him. "Well?" she finally asked.

Harry chuckled for a moment. "She told me to avoid Snape until our next class with him because he was upset that detention was overridden. She also told me I should consider being a teacher. It was almost like she watched me teach or something, but I know she was in the Pensieve. One of the firsties must have said what I did."

They soon arrived at the Room of Requirement and saw Hermione holding the door open for them. The others were already there.

Harry looked over the four Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw, and four other Gryffindors. "We had talked about doing this lesson on silent casting, is that what we still want to do?"

All the sixth years nodded. He looked at the fifth years. "Ginny? Luna? You have a say in this too."

"We don't need it now," Ginny said, "but I can see how it would be useful."

"I'm fine," Luna said calmly.

"All right, everyone pull out your wands," Harry told them. "There's really only three, or maybe four methods, depending on how you count and the explanations won't take long."

"Three or four?" Hermione was aghast. "I only found two for the write-up I gave you. Where did you find the others?" she demanded.

He grinned at her. "I used another source. In this case-"

"Professor Flitwick," Ginny interjected.

Harry gave her a smile and a nod. "Professor Flitwick."

"How did you know that?" Ron asked.

"He came at the beginning of my class," Ginny answered and gave him a nod in admiration. "Shrewd."

"Yes, well," Harry paused and ran his fingers through his hair. "I think it's fairly well known he used to be on the dueling circuit where this skill would have been extremely valuable."

"I should have thought of that," Hermione huffed, obviously upset with herself. "Why is it three or four?" she asked with a little curiosity.

"Let me explain," he told her and then looked around at the group. "One method is to do what Snape is doing. Decide what spell you want to learn and then just practice until you get it. That does work for some people and it is the easiest thing to teach, but it doesn't work for everyone."

"Duh!" Ron said with a bit of frustration.

"But it can work. I did it twice today." At their surprised looks, he continued. "Both spells I did in class," he looked at Ginny and Luna, "the Stinging hex and Ending spell, I've never done silently before. I just force them out which is basically what Snape was trying to get us to do."

"Why did it work for you and not for us?" Megan Jones asked.

"Partly because I wanted it to … very badly, much like accidental magic. The other part is that emotion can help you. In this case, I was somewhat angry and used that to help power my spell. It's like doing a Patronus where emotions can help that too. It works, but this really is the hardest method to learn with even if it is the easiest method to teach."

Hermione nodded. "I found that one. The other method was to say it softer and softer."

"Yes, that's probably one of the better methods actually," he agreed.

"So we just say it softer and softer? I'm not sure I understand," Lilith Moon told him.

"This was how I learned my first spell this morning," Harry told her. "Like this." He held up his wand. " _Lumos, Nox,_ " he said in a normal voice and light blinked on and off on the tip of his wand. " _Lumos, Nox,_ " he said in a quieter voice, then again in yet a quieter voice. By the third time he was whispering. The fourth time he could barely hear himself. The fifth time he didn't move his lips, but his wand still lit and then blinked off.

"The last time I was saying it only in my mind," he told them.

"That's what you were trying to do in class, wasn't it?" Hermione asked knowingly.

"Yes," he admitted.

"What's the next way?" Hermione asked with interest.

"You've already encountered it, although you may not think of it that way." At her frown, he cast " _Silencio_ " on her. "Go ahead and cast the light charm; talk if you want, we won't hear you."

The brunette glowered at him but did the spell. Her wand lit up.

"Note hers compared to mine, _Lumos_." Harry held his wand next to hers. "See that while her spell worked, it's weaker than mine. That should have been one of the drawbacks of silent casting on the essay you turned in today … spells cast silently tend to be weaker until you truly master them. My Stinging hex on Malfoy was weaker than it would have been otherwise."

"That was weaker than normal?" Hannah blurted out amazed.

"Maybe only a bit, but it was not normal. _Morsus_!" His spell shot across the room and hit the stone wall. Concentrating, he did the spell but this time silently. "As you can see, the first one was brighter."

"Not that I want to get hit with either one after seeing what it did to Malfoy," Neville said teasingly, causing Harry to chuckle.

Hermione backhanded Harry on the arm and pointed to her mouth.

"Right, sorry," Harry told her and cancelled his silencing spell on her.

"That's cheating and not a real way," Hermione told him, sounding a little peeved at having to wait so long on him.

Harry shrugged. "If you could only learn two spells and it was the silencing and ending spells, then you could cast all the rest silently too."

Ron chuckled. "He's got you there."

"What's the last one?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes at Ron but conceding Harry's point.

"Not sure if this is a real method, but instead of just picking whatever spell you want, start with the simplest spells possible, like the light charm, and work up. You'll find the simple ones use less power and that makes them easier. Or pick a spell that's so familiar to you that you can do it without thinking. Do that with any of the other methods," he told them.

"That's really all the theory there is. Pick what you want to do and try it for a few minutes. If something isn't working, try one of the other methods," he told them.

"Harry?" Ginny called looking thoughtful. "How long did it take you to do your first one?"

"I did the light charm just to prove I could. I took me about half an hour, I guess," he said with a shrug. "Since we have only a little more than that left, let's take the rest of the time trying the different methods. Point at the wall, the floor, or some other place that's safe in case you cast something unexpected."

They all started on that. Harry walked over to one of the pillows on the floor, since they were in their DA room from last year, and started trying to do the levitation spell.

After a few minutes, he heard a growl and turned to see Ron holding an arm back as if to punch the wall, but not doing so because he realized that would hurt, then dropping his arm but still clenching his fist. Harry walked over to his friend.

"Ron, take a break for a few minutes then try something else."

"Easy for you to say since you can already do it," Ron snapped back.

Harry wanted to sigh because this was like on the train, but he forced himself to stay calm. "I told you I couldn't do it instantly either and we all know that getting frustrated doesn't make learning new spells easier."

Ron growled again, so Harry just turned and walked away, not sure what else to do for his friend at the moment. He saw several sympathetic looks, including from Ginny and Susan.

By the end of their time, Ron still hadn't learned how to do a spell silently. Harry had learned how to do the levitation spell.

To make it worse for Ron, everyone else had managed to learn the lighting charm, except for Megan, who was trying with the levitation charm (since it came easy to her) and she did manage to make her pillow at least flop so she knew she was close. Ron growled and stomped out when he saw Ginny and Luna lighting their wands silently.

Susan came up and put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think there's anything else you could have done for him, but thank you for the lesson."

"You're welcome," he said, still feeling a little down about Ron. "I think it's getting a little bit easier for each one that I learn, like my magic is starting to help me now that it knows what I want to do, if that makes any sense."

"Yeah, thanks Harry!" Ginny told him and patted him on the arm before she left. That set the tone and the rest did it too on their way out, leaving only Harry and Susan.

Susan grabbed his hand as Hannah left with a knowing smirk. "Come, boyfriend." She pulled him over to the pillows and pulled him down as she sank and laid on her side, propped up on her elbow. He matched her and lay very close to her.

"You know, I really appreciated what you did last year. I know part of it was out of spite for Umbridge, but I could also tell that you did it because you believed in us having a way to help ourselves … and you were also good at it." She smiled at him. "McGonagall is right; I think you would make a good teacher."

Harry did his best not to be embarrassed because he could tell she was being serious. While he thought better of himself now than he did when he was much younger and was told he was a freak, he still liked being told he had done well - something the Dursleys had never done.

"Thank you," he finally said quietly.

She raised a hand and caressed his cheek before moving it to the back of his head and pulling him to her, kissing him gently.

That caused Harry to forget about Ron for the moment and smile at her when they came apart. He reached up and moved her hair, causing it to lay better before putting his fingertips on her jaw and pulling her to him slowly the last few inches.

They didn't stay there long as they didn't want to be in trouble for being out after curfew, but they each enjoyed the quiet and emotionally intimate moments they had.

* * *

Friday, Harry watched for Snape, keeping a wary eye on him when in the Great Hall. The man glared at him during breakfast and lunch, but otherwise did nothing.

For dinner, Harry sat at the Hufflepuff table. Like usual, he sat on the side of the table that made him face the Slytherins so his back wasn't to them since the Hufflepuff table was next to the Slytherin table.

Throughout dinner, he carried on like normal while trying to keep the Professor in his peripheral vision, along with the occasional glance at Draco Malfoy. Malfoy didn't look happy with Harry, but his expression was one of general dislike and trying to figure out something about Harry. Snape's expression was pure loathing.

When they finished eating the main course, Harry made sure to get dessert and to eat it slowly.

"I thought you said you wanted to go for a walk outside," Susan told him as he continued to eat and take his time doing so. "It'll be getting dark soon."

"Soon," he told her before leaning over and whispering, "I have this feeling we should stay a little longer." He saw her look at him questioningly, but he also saw beyond her. Snape was rising, finished with his dinner.

"Why?" she whispered back, taking her cue from him.

"A feeling in the air," he said neutrally as he grabbed his cup and tilted it up.

Suddenly, there was a yell from Snape as he pitched forward violently as he came down the three steps of the raised area where the teachers sat. He not only tripped but seemed to fall faster than normal and slammed into the stone floor where he and everyone in the room went totally silent.

After a pregnant pause, the man groaned and murmured conversations started as did a few laughs from the direction of the Gryffindor table. The laughs were suddenly cut-off after a stern look from their head of house before she and the rest of the teachers hurried over to help the dour man.

It took nearly a minute, but Snape rose shakily with a blood dripping out of his nose and a bloody spot on his forehead. McGonagall shooed the students out as she said, "He'll be fine. Run along as we help him."

Harry grabbed Susan's hand and rose with everyone else to make their way out of the large room and the castle.

Once outside, Susan looked at him for a moment before she said, "You knew."

"I heard a rumor," he admitted vaguely while surpressing his satisfaction for what he'd done to Snape by using air creatively.

"Did you do it?" she asked point blank.

"I'm not upset about what happened to him, so I don't think it matters," he said, trying to avoid a fight while not admitting anything substantial.

"That's not a clear answer and doesn't help you," she stated a little upset.

Harry stopped walking and made sure no one was near them before he looked her right in the eyes. "I'm not upset because I think he deserved it. I supposed the most important part is do you think he deserved it?"

She stared back at him. "Yes he probably did, but does that make doing something like that right?"

"I heard a couple of sayings this summer that I didn't fully understand then but I think I do now. One was 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. The other was 'do unto others as you'd have them do unto you'." He paused for a moment. "The second one was easier to understand and apply, but if you think about it, they're both saying the same thing. The second is to prevent something from happening, while the first is how to react after something happens.

"I want to be normal, Susan. I want a peaceful life and I'm going to try very hard to have that. But I will not roll over and let people have at me. If someone attacks me or my friends, I will defend myself and them." It wasn't until after he'd finished that he realized he'd just admitted to the deed, but what was done was done.

Harry took a deep breath, not liking the idea he just had, but it seemed reasonable so he went with it. Let's pretend for a moment that I did it - even though I was drinking at the time. Would that really be a problem for you?"

Susan continued to look at him, obviously evaluating him as he waited and hoped she didn't walk away.

"I'm not sure I fully agree with doing something like that, but I do understand defending yourself." Susan looked away from him and at the lake for several breaths. "Auntie Amelia once told me something like that but she said that she had to be tough while being fair. She also said that sometimes being tough means doing things that aren't pleasant and aren't nice. She also said that you had to be careful to not to cross the line into being unfair too."

She turned back to him. "How do you plan to not cross the line?"

He realized she'd accepted that he'd done it but wasn't going to call him on it directly; he could live with that. "Mainly, I'm going to go out of my way to not start things; but having someone like you around to help keep me in line seems like it would be useful," he answered.

Susan nodded. "I'm not totally comfortable with that, but I can live with it." She turned and started walking again, still holding one of his hands. "One more thing, Harry; please don't hide things from me again with half-truths. It's like lying and we shouldn't lie to each other, unless you want us to break up."

Harry took in her pointed looked and nodded. "I understand and it won't happen again."

Their perfect world was a little messier after their first argument, but perhaps it was for the better as their world was more realistic, Harry thought.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	6. Dark Histories

(A/N: This chapter will answer a few questions some of you have been asking. I'll also say that it's one of my favorites (along with ch 15) in the whole story as we see some history and Harry using his intelligence.)

 **Chapter 6 - Dark Histories**

Saturday morning, Harry had breakfast with Susan at the Gryffindor table. He noticed that Snape was at his usual place, glowering at everyone in the room. He wasn't surprised as he hadn't expected the man's injuries to be all that bad. He also didn't expect Snape to connect his accident with his mistreatment of Harry. Perhaps if it happened a few more times the man might start to suspect.

Knowing they'd be spending most of the day together after lunch, Harry squeezed Susan's hand and let her go, each planning on doing a few things on their own until lunch. For Harry, that was some Runes homework and some time reading Sirius's journal.

Sitting in the common room, Harry looked up once from his work to see Ginny walking by very slowly and giving him a contemplative look. It wasn't hard for him to guess she was thinking about whether to talk to him about whatever was bothering her, but she didn't stop.

Lunch came and Harry sat with Susan and her friends. He was pleased that not only did his friends seem to understand as he split his time between the two groups, when the groups weren't together in their Defense Study Group, but that he and Susan seemed to be back to their normal friendship. The awkwardness after last night's disagreement seemed to be gone, or at least ignored by both of them.

Harry knocked on his head of house's door at the appointed time while holding Susan's hand.

"Come in, Mr Potter," the woman said when she answered. "Miss Bones, I didn't expect to see you here, but I suppose I'm not surprised either."

"Thank you for doing this Professor," he told her as they walked in. Spying his other "helper", Harry nodded to him. "Good afternoon, Professor Flitwick, and thank you for coming."

"Not a problem, Mr Potter. I do appreciate you being willing to assuage my curiosity. Good afternoon, Miss Bones," the diminutive professor greeted them. Susan returned the greeting to both professors.

Harry led Susan to the table where Professor Flitwick sat, a table that held a large black stone bowl that he recognized as Dumbledore's, though he decided he probably shouldn't say the snarky comment on it that he was thinking lest he be disrespectful. He was going to have a hard enough time avoiding that for most of the afternoon.

"I'm almost not sure where to start, but I suppose the beginning is the best place," Harry told them before giving his head of house a very serious look. "Professor, I do hope you can refrain from thinking badly of me for a few of these, and I really don't want to get anyone else in trouble. Most of the problems couldn't have been avoided anyway."

McGonagall looked at him for a moment. "Mr Potter, let's say that what's happened in past years are history and will be left alone."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said with relief, "because I'm afraid for Hermione on this first one."

McGonagall gave him very slight smile. "Don't worry, Mr Potter, Miss Granger is not in trouble for lying to me if you plan to show the memory I think you will. If so, I would have punished her at the time."

He couldn't help his shocked look.

"Really, Mr Potter." McGonagall gave him a look as if he should have known better. "Miss Granger couldn't lie successfully to save her life, at least not to me when she was a first year. I knew her story about going after the troll by herself wasn't the real story. However, I will admit to being curious as to what really happened."

Harry shook his head in chagrin as he put a small memory of Ron and his cutting comment and then a larger memory of the Troll incident in the Pensieve. McGonagall tapped a rune on the Pensieve so the memories would be projected above the bowl for all to watch.

At the end, McGonagall frowned. "I had suspected something like that; at least Mr Weasley has made some progress in his social graces."

"You really jumped on the back of a troll when you were eleven?" Susan asked incredulously. "No wonder you're in Gryffindor, although it was a very Hufflepuff thing to stick up for your friend like that."

"We value friendship too, just as you were brave to join an illegal group last year," he told her with a smile, which was answered with one of her bright smiles.

Harry changed out the memories for three later in the year. A very short scene to show Norbert the baby dragon in Hagrid's hut, followed by their taking the baby dragon to give to Charlie, and then his detention in the forest with Hagrid when Harry saw the shade of Voldemort drinking blood from the unicorn.

When that ended, he looked at McGonagall and saw she was pale. "Professor, did you know what Hagrid was going to do?"

"No, Mr Potter, I swear I didn't learn of that until the next day and I was most upset with him for taking all of you into the forest at night. However," she gave him a stern look, "why didn't you tell me the truth about why you were out that night I caught you out of the Tower, that you were trying to help Hagrid?"

When Harry didn't say anything immediately, Susan laughed. "Harry, you really are a Hufflepuff at heart." She looked at the professor. "He was trying to keep Hagrid out of trouble."

"Still," McGonagall insisted.

Harry shrugged and changed the memories, putting a single memory in bowl. It showed his final adventure for the year, ending when he fell unconscious as Quirrell turned to ash.

Flitwick was the first to speak afterward that one. "I'm impressed how the three of you managed to get past the traps, which is point in my favor. I argued with the Headmaster that the traps were too simple."

"As did I," McGonagall added while Harry changed that memory for one more.

By the time that one finished, Susan was holding Harry very tightly and was practically in his lap. Yet she also didn't look away. "What in the bloody hell were you thinking going down there when you knew there was a basilisk?" she whispered harshly, heard by all.

"My best friend's sister was going to die," he explained as he changed memories, breaking this one up into several scenes to compress time, "and I was about to lose someone in the closest thing I had to a family, even if I did barely know her."

"Minerva, a moment please," Flitwick said before the next one started. "I think a small break might be in order after that and I'd like mine to come from your brown bottle."

McGonagall only nodded and stood to return a moment later with a tray. She poured tea for herself and the students and gave a shot glass of amber liquid to the other professor, who downed it in one gulp.

This time they watched a younger Harry watch his best friend get dragged to the Whomping Willow, the tell-all scene inside the shrieking shack, Lupin's transformation and Pettigrew escaping, the fight with the Dementors, Dumbledore telling them to go back three hours, Harry saving himself and his godfather, and Fudge's denial of Black's innocence.

Flitwick summoned the brown bottle from the nearby table and refilled his shot glass, but he didn't drink it. Instead, he turned it slowly and looked at it. Everyone watched him, sensing he wanted to say something while the rest of them weren't sure what to say.

"Minerva," Flitwick said softly, "who on the staff knew about Miss Granger having a Time Turner?"

The woman looked uncomfortable. "Technically, only Albus and I, although I believe Professor Vector figured it out."

"She would have," he said with a nod, "as I probably would have, had I seen her schedule. That was very dangerous, unnecessary, and…" He took a deep breath. "I should stop there. I'm starting to see a pattern that I don't like. I hope it is a merely a string of very bad luck."

"What?" she asked.

"I believe it best to wait until the end and we have more data. Mr Potter?" Flitwick gestured towards the bowl before he took a sip of his drink.

Harry retrieved the next set of memories and was secretly glad Flitwick was looking at the whole picture, because it was obvious McGonagall hadn't ever considered all of this. He wondered if the Charms professor's idea matched his own.

For Susan's sake, he showed all the memories, as short as they were, of Cedric. He also showed the help Moody gave him for the Triwizard Tournament. He ended this year with the memories from just before he and Cedric fought the giant spider at the end of the third task through the confession of Barty Crouch Jr, and then the denial by Fudge. He was surprised no one immediately commented on the resurrection of Voldemort; then again, it was horrific and spoke for itself.

"Did either of you know Mad-Eye very well before that year?" Harry asked the two adults as he retrieved his memories.

"Not really," Flitwick answered and looked at his colleague.

"I knew him but not well enough to have known we had an imposter," McGonagall told them. "We were good acquaintances at best. I have started to get to know him better over the last year."

Flitwick shook his head. "That is essentially two imposters he's had as teachers. I'd go check Professor Wilkins right now if I didn't already know it was him."

"How can you be sure?" Harry asked, before he hurriedly added, "No offense meant, but as you say, it's happened twice in the last five years."

The man chuckled. "I'm not offended at all, Mr Potter, for it is a good question. What you can't know is that I'm just old enough and Professor Wilkins is just young enough that I taught him here and we've had a few discussions since he started teaching. The things shared and the way they were shared leave me no doubt that is the real Preston Wilkins."

Harry shared his encounter with the Dementors in Little Whinging, then the trial afterward.

"I don't understand why he treated you like that?" Susan said with great puzzlement. "It was like the Headmaster hardly knew you."

"You'll see," Harry said as he pulled out several of his encounters with Umbridge.

"Stop!" Flitwick cried during one of them. After McGonagall froze the playback, he leaned closer to look more carefully. "Why didn't I hear about her making you use a Blood Quill in detention? Technically, that's not illegal, but it is very wrong and against school policy."

Harry hung his head. "Because I was being an idiot."

"Mr Potter," McGonagall fixed him with a stern look. "When I told you to keep your head down, I didn't mean for you to go through things … like this!" She gestured at the frozen image.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "Like I said, I was being an idiot. I thought it was my private war, me against her. I also know I haven't given you a lot of chances to help me before, but most of the time it was difficult to get your help … we just didn't have the time. So by last year, it was mostly a habit to do things ourselves … a habit I'm trying to break this year."

"Nevertheless!" She gestured at the image of the Blood Quill again.

He looked right at her. "How was I to know that was wrong? I had no idea what a Blood Quill was until the end of the year."

"She was torturing you, Mr Potter," Flitwick said slowly, "that is always wrong."

"I agree, Professor, but she was also a senior Ministry official, and therefore obviously had the Ministry's backing," he countered.

"A Ministry that is very fallible, as you've shown us several times through your memories." Flitwick signed. "While you've made a few unwise moves, Mr Potter, I can tell you're not stupid. I can also tell after only a week that you're doing even better in your studies this year than previously."

"I am taking them more seriously," he admitted, not commenting on the rest.

Flitwick drank half of his shot glass and then gestured at his colleague. "Please continue."

McGonagall restarted the playback. She also snorted and looked like she wanted to laugh at the end. "Now I know why Delores dislikes the centaurs so much."

"Beyond her previous dislike," Flitwick added with a grin.

A large memory was put in next. They all watched from the time Harry and his friends found the orb in the Hall of Prophecies to the time Harry left Dumbledore's office.

"I would be so angry at him for telling me a prophecy like that after I just lost my godfather," Susan said with some anger in her voice.

"Oh, I was, but I've gotten over it because I've decided the prophecy is a hoax," Harry explained, as he changed the memory for another. "One last one and it won't take long."

The adults shook their heads and Flitwick gulped the last of his drink.

Harry showed them the fight that lead to his leaving the Dursleys. "It would have been funny how many misunderstanding there were that night had that not been happening to me," he told them as he put that memory back into his mind.

McGonagall huffed. "I told him you shouldn't be left there. Were they always like that?"

"They rarely got physical. They … they had their ways of showing me that they hated magic and hated me," he admitted. He still didn't like to talk of the Dursleys to those in the Magical World, but felt this group should see why he ran away for the summer. "I won't be going back…"

"I should think not!" McGonagall exclaimed.

"Probably can't anyway, as I think they're in prison," Harry said with a grin.

Flitwick drummed his finger tips on the table for a moment. "There's a very disturbing trend and I think the prophecy is the key to understanding the Headmaster's behavior. Even if you don't believe the prophecy, Mr Potter, Albus Dumbledore does and his actions show he's been testing you, even training you in his own unusual way."

"He's never shown me a single spell," Harry said.

"I didn't say he had a good training plan," the man told him. "I…" he paused for a moment. "I don't know how much I can help you because the Headmaster has so much political power as well as magical power, but I'll help you as I can, Mr Potter. Even if you don't believe in the prophecy, I feel sure you'll be dragged into the fight as Dumbledore and Voldemort each appear to believe."

"I too will help you, Mr Potter," McGonagall told him. "I will also say that I think your current plan of avoidance is about the best you can do at this time."

"Thank you, Professors, both of you," Harry told them sincerely.

"This has been most informative, but it is time for dinner. Run along, we'll be down soon," McGonagall told them.

After another round of thanks, Harry and Susan left.

"I can hardly you believe you did half of that and lived, even after seeing the memories of the events." Susan shook her head. "I know you can't share those memories with the others in my house, but I do wish they could know about Cedric. It was obvious you two were friends."

Harry considered that for a moment. This was probably crazy, but he was a Gryffindor as she'd pointed out several times today. "What if I just told some of those stories about Cedric, as a tribute to him?"

Her eyes lit. "Would you? I think they'd appreciate it as much as I did, especially those who knew him."

"As long as Smith and any others like him are reasonable," Harry told her.

"After dinner? Please?" She even batted her eyes at him.

She was so sweet in asking he couldn't deny her. "For you."

Susan threw her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly. "Thank you." Letting him go, she grabbed his hand and practically dragged him to the Great Hall.

As they passed his Gryffindor friends on the way in, Harry threw a hasty, "Sorry, sitting at the other table, I'll explain later," over his shoulder. He saw Neville give him an amused laugh while Ron shook his head sadly.

She sat them near the end of the table near the head table. A few minutes later, Susan stood and walked around the table to Hannah, who was sitting across from her and whispered in her ear. Hannah gave her a surprised look and an eager nod before turning to Lilith Moon and whispering to her. While that was spreading down the other side of the table, Susan came back and behind Harry to his neighbor at the table, Megan Jones, and whispered in her ear, taking a bit longer than with Hannah. Susan then walked down the table as if to talk to someone else.

Megan whispered to her neighbor before she turned back to Harry. "Have you done all of your Runes homework for Tuesday? There's a lot of reading."

He saw Susan stop and lean down and talk to Zach Smith and could imagine what that was about. "Mostly, we have enough breaks during the day this year that I've finished the reading and most of the homework. I'll probably finish tomorrow. How about you?"

"The reading, yes. I'm about half-way through the homework. I don't have any idea for her extra homework, no thanks to you," she teased. "Couldn't you have waited and asked that question on your own?"

He chuckled at her teasing. "It just sort of came up."

"Have you found anything yet?"

Harry swallowed and noticed that Susan was talking to a seventh year boy, a Prefect if he remembered correctly. "Not directly, but I've found a few interesting things this morning that might apply. I'm still trying to work through it and it's been a little hard." He grinned at her. "Usually I have Hermione to do my hard thinking for me."

Megan laughed as did Hannah and Lilith.

He watched Susan return and take her seat. "You look very pleased right now."

"I am," she said simply and with a smile to tease him.

By the end of the meal, Harry had had a time of a lot of fun and joking. However, when it was over, the entire house seemed to rise together, causing him to scramble up. They all left with him and Susan at the end. Trying to think back, he had vague memories of the Hufflepuffs doing this mass flock formation before, but it was very rare.

Eventually, he went down the corridor towards the kitchens, but turned at the last minute down another corridor. This one was lined with large barrels stood on their side; they were almost as tall as he was. A little more than halfway down, one of the barrels opened like a door with everyone walking in. It was an interesting door, he thought, as he dipped his head only a little as he entered.

Inside, the Hufflepuff common room looked a little larger than the Griffindor's common room. Harry guessed that might have been because they were on the ground floor instead of in a tower, which made the larger room easier. As he watched people taking seats, he realized that it might also be because the whole house spent more time here too.

Susan led him over to a wall that might have been called a shrine. It presently held five "cubbies" that were about two feet by two feet and a foot deep. Inside each was a picture, a plaque, and a few items. Most of them looked old, but the newest one caught his attention and he realized it really was a shrine. He couldn't help but step closer and look. The plaque told a short story about Cedric being killed by a Death Eater at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. He was impressed they had written that. There was also a miniature Triwizard Cup about four inches tall.

Turning, he saw Susan sitting next to him and she held a glass of water.

"For you, if you need it," she told him.

"Thank you," he said quietly and turned the rest of the way around to see that he had the attention of the entire house. A bit of fear shot through him at all the people looking at him, but he knew he couldn't back out now.

"Err, good evening. I was, uh, talking to Susan earlier today and shared a few things about Cedric Diggory," he paused as he remembered her words to him, "my friend, and she thought you might like to hear them."

He glanced backward for a moment. "I like what you did for him; he deserves that because he was a really great guy and shouldn't be forgotten.

"I first met him in my third year, three years ago, playing Quidditch. For those of you here then, you'll remember that we had Dementors surrounding the school. He was a Seeker like me and we had a really good game. He was a good flyer. Towards the end, we both saw the Golden Snitch and went after it. Unfortunately, that was also about the time the Dementors swarmed the field. They affected me but Cedric managed to focus on the Snitch more and he caught it. In a great display of sportsmanship, once he realized that the Dementors had prevented me from playing, he didn't want credit for the catching the Snitch, but he wanted to redo the game." Harry smiled. "Quidditch can make so many people extremely competitive and practically crazy, but not Cedric; he actually thought of me."

Harry saw a number of heads nodding.

"Most of our time together came the next year though. I met his dad and walked with them both to get to the area Portkey point to get to the Quidditch World Cup. Then came the ... the disaster that was the Triwizard Tournament.

"I could tell Cedric was disappointed in me when we met after the names were picked, but he didn't say anything bad about me. I don't know whether he believed my denials about not putting my name in or not, but he didn't say anything bad either. As most of you know, we found out later that an imposter for Professor Moody had put my name in to force me into the Tournament.

"Cedric always took the high road and acted like a gentleman. I can't think of a better example than when Draco Malfoy made those badges denouncing me; I never saw Cedric wearing one."

Harry saw a number of people look down guiltily and he only now realized how they might have taken that. "I want everyone to know that if you wore one of those badges, I don't hold it against you and I'm not upset." He almost added 'not any more', but managed to stop himself. "From what you knew, you had no reason to believe in me and it did look like I was stealing Cedric's special place." He looked over at Susan and saw her smiling and mouthing, "Thank you." He nodded and took the glass from her for a sip before giving it back.

"For the first task," he hurried on to get away from the uncomfortable topic, "I found out a few days early that we were supposed to be facing dragons." He noticed a number of hard looks at that. "I also found out that the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang groups both already knew, and that," he made air quotes, "cheating - is part of the Tournament. I didn't want Cedric facing a dragon unprepared, so I pulled him aside and told him." Most of the hard looks relaxed.

"True to his good sportsmanship nature, he actually did what many of you were thinking just now, that I was cheating. However, I pointed out that the other two schools already knew and that I didn't want him to get hurt. I'm not totally sure, but I think that's when our friendship became more than just as acquaintances.

"For the second task, Cedric returned the favor. He didn't tell me the solution of the golden egg, but he gave me a big enough clue that I was able to eventually solve it, and I really did need his help. I was very appreciative.

"I also remember when we found out about the third task and how they had planted a maze of shrubs on the Quidditch pitch." Harry ginned in memory. "He was just as horrified as I was that they'd ruined the pitch." The group chuckled. "He was also as horrified as I was that Hagrid, as well meaning as he is, was supplying some creatures for the maze." That generated smiles and someone gave a short hysterical laugh.

"Then came the true test of Cedric and I want you to know that he stood proud." He stopped and took the glass from Susan and took a deep gulp before handing hit back, encouraged by the look she was giving him.

"We met twice in the maze. The first time I heard screaming and found Cedric fighting Krum. It didn't take long to realize that something was wrong with Krum. So I helped Cedric and stunned Krum. We later found out he'd been Imperioused by the fake Moody to remove the rest of the contestants to force me to win.

"The second time was as we neared the end of the maze. We could both see the Cup at the end and started racing for it. I was further away and at a different angle. My different position also allowed me to see that he was heading right for a large Acromantula." There were gasps from all over the room.

"I shouted at him to get his attention and he managed to avoid the giant spider. By fighting together, the two of us chased it off, although I hurt my ankle while doing so. That put us side by side at the Cup."

Harry smiled as he thought back. "It's really kind of funny now, but we argued back and forth, trying to get the other to take the Cup and win." He saw several people smiling at that. "In the end, we decided to take the Cup together so it would be a Hogwarts win." He shook his head. "I now wished I had been more selfish and taken it by myself.

"The Cup was a Portkey that took us to a graveyard. We really didn't know what was going on. It didn't take long for a man to find us and we heard a voice to say, 'Kill the spare'. Before either of us fully realized what was happening, Peter Pettigrew cast the killing curse, and Cedrig Diggory was dead. It was all too quick – he never had a chance.

Harry shook his head at the injustice of it and could tell others felt the same way. "You might think that was the end, but it wasn't.

"I was forced into a ritual that gave Voldemort a body again and then we duelled to show his followers that he was better in every way. During the fight and through magic that I only barely understand, our wands connected and showed the spells he had cast in reverse order. To my utter amazement, Voldemort's wand created shades of people he'd killed, starting with Cedric plus a few others, including my parents."

Harry saw many incredulous looks. "Cedric joined in with the other shades to help me. They gave me time to escape. I knew I had to bring his body back with me … I couldn't leave what was left of my friend there. So even after he was dead, Cedric still helped me.

"Cedric Diggory was my friend. I wished I could have had more time with him, but it was not to be. To me, Cedric is the finest example I know of what it means to be a proper English Wizard and a Hufflepuff." He heard a sniffle and then a quiet sob from somewhere.

"I wished we all had glasses for a toast, but we don't, so let's have a moment of silence instead." Harry took a few deep breaths thinking of the loss of his friend. It was a shame because he really would have liked to have known him better. "To Cedric!" he shouted.

"To Cedric!" they returned so loudly he took a half step backward in surprise.

Not sure what to do now, he looked at Susan and was surprised to see her wet eyes and a look of admiration.

"Thank you, Mr Potter." He whipped around to see Professor Sprout looking at him with a tear streaking down one cheek; he hadn't known she was in the room. "Fifty points to Gryffindor for your loyalty and willingness to share. You are always welcome in this common room during visiting hours as long as a Hufflepuff escorts you in." She hugged him briefly before turning away.

Harry was in a slight shock, never having been hugged by a professor before. In fact, he'd never even seen a professor do that before.

Before he knew what was happening, Hannah was the first to come up to him giving him a hug, thanking him. She was replaced by another and another from a long line. Every student from the third year and up, those who actually knew Cedric thanked him. A few of the first and second years did too.

He was surprised that even Zach Smith, a thorn in his side from the DA last year, was appreciative and sincere as he shook Harry's hand. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Cho Chang throwing herself at him, arms around his neck and her sobbing, "Thank you, thank you." He patted her on the back and threw a glance at Susan, who fortunately didn't look upset. Harry supposed one of the seventh years had brought Cho in.

At the end, Susan handed the glass of water to someone and grabbed Harry's hand to pull him out of the common room. She swiftly led him to one of the secret passages not far away and pulled him inside.

Harry started to ask her what the hurry was when she pushed him against the wall and pressed her body against him as she grabbed his head and kissed him hard. He put his arms around her and did his best to respond, or more accurately survive the passionate witch.

When she finally pulled back, Harry was surprised her eyes weren't glowing in power. That made him realized he'd forgotten about his own power in the excitement and quickly reined that in, grateful that he only felt the barest of breezes before he stopped it.

"Thank you," he croaked, "but what was that for?"

Susan leaned forward and placed light kisses on the side of his face and neck. "For being a wonderful boyfriend. Don't expect that every time though," she said with a smirk.

"I won't, but feel free to do that any time you like," he told her, still a little breathless.

"I may," she said before she kissed him more normally again. "Especially since you now have a very rare privilege. You're an honorary Hufflepuff, Harry. It's been decades since anyone not in our house to be given unlimited access to the common room. Even brothers and sisters of Hufflepuffs don't get that privilege. That will make it easier for us to spend time together."

"I, uh, really? Wow, thanks! Yeah, that'll be good." He hoped that made sense because he was really surprised.

She giggled and then kissed him again. "You're making this so hard. I better leave before I do something I shouldn't." She grabbed his head and kissed him hard one more time before she left abruptly.

Harry had to continue leaning against the wall for another minute or so before he felt he could be mostly normal and started to walk back to the Gryffindor Tower. He wasn't sure what he'd done to make her that excited, but whatever it was, he really wanted to do that again.

— — —

Susan walked back into the common room to see the entire house still there and talking in groups. Almost everyone was still talking about Harry and what he'd said. Unlike in fourth year, all the things said now were good.

Hannah walked up to her with a smirk on her face. "Did you leave his virtue intact?"

Susan rolled her eyes but took her friend's arm and pulled her to the side. "Yes, but it was a close thing."

"Do I need to warn him not to be such a Hufflepuff?" Hannah said with a laugh.

"Well, that did start it, but…" Susan paused and looked to make sure no one was nearby and lowered her voice anyway. "I really felt his power tonight." At Hannah's delighted look, Susan hit her friend on the arm. "Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant that when I was with him, it was like his magic swirled around us or something. I know his hands were on my back, but it was like his magic ran all over me, caressing me, including swirling around my legs. I need to go take a cold shower now."

Hannah slapped her hand over her mouthed and laughed. "You're making that up."

Susan just smiled at her friend and left for their dorm room. She really wanted to know how to get him to do that to her again.

— — —

Harry plopped down into a chair in the Gryffindor common room. He wasn't there long before all of his friends were crowded around him.

"What's wrong, mate?" Neville asked. "You look exhausted and your hair's messier than normal, which is saying something," he said with a grin.

"I, uh, I just talked to all the Hufflepuffs. I gave a tribute to Cedric and guess what? They made me an honorary Hufflepuff," he told them, barely believing it himself.

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked and the rest nodded, wanting to know too.

"It means that I can visit their common room anytime I want as long as it's not past curfew," he replied.

"I've never heard of that," Hermione said with a frown.

"Not even in _Hogwarts: A History_?" Ron asked in a snarky rude tease.

She glared at him.

"Congratulations, Harry," Ginny told him hurriedly, obviously trying to stop a fight before it started.

"Thanks!" he told her before turning to his other friend. "Hermione, I think I'd like to rest. Wake me when it's time for our patrol, all right?" With her agreement, Harry made himself comfortable and closed his eyes as his friends walked away. He couldn't help but think of the strawberry-blonde girl who seemed to become more attractive as he got to know her better.

— — —

Harry's eyes flew open as he felt his shoulder shaken. He saw Hermione leaning over him. "Sorry to disturb your nap," she told him sincerely, "but it's time to do our patrol."

"Right," he told her as he shook his head to finish waking up. "I can see why Ron grumbled about this ."

She nodded and sighed. "It is one of the downsides, but it's not too bad most of the time. The others just returned," she told him, indicating the fifth year Prefects.

They headed out of the Tower and Harry automatically pulled the Marauder's Map out and activated it. He looked it over as they walked. "I think we need the fifth floor," he told her and led her to the stairs to get there.

"Why?" Hermione asked, not seeming to care where they were going.

"Because the others missed a Ravenclaw couple." He pointed at the pair in a classroom near the Ravenclaw Tower. "I guess we can go see what they are studying."

Hermione gave him a worn look. "It is possible we don't really want to know."

He looked at her in some amazement. "Where's the girl that used to say all the rules should be kept at all times?"

She looked straight ahead and said very quietly, "She got hurt badly and isn't so sure of everything anymore."

"I'm really sorry," he told her sympathetically, and she gave him an appreciative look.

They travelled the rest of the way in silence, until the room they were heading to was visible. "You want to do the Revealing Charm to make sure there's nothing on the door that would hurt us?"

"Do you really think they would do that?" she asked, although she pulled her wand out anyway.

"Never hurts to be safe," he told her as his own wand was pulled out.

Hermione cast her spell and reported, "Just a locking charm."

Harry cast an Unlocking Charm and then yanked the door open. No one was naked inside, but they were heading that way being down to just undergarments. The two Ravenclaws stared in horror at being interrupted; their horror increased when their clothes suddenly flew from the floor to Harry's hand and then to a hastily conjured bag. "Let's go," he told them and motioned with a flick of his wand.

"Harry!" Hermione looked at him in surprise. "At least let them get dressed."

"Why?" he asked. "They were willing to be like they are now outside of their dorm rooms. Besides, who are we likely to run into?"

"Yeah, give me my clothes back," the girl demanded as she tried to cover her bra and knickers with her hands.

"I could just stun you and levitate you," Harry told them. "Come, let's go to Flitwick's office."

The Ravenclaw boy finally started walking, holding his head high as he went in just his underwear.

"At least let me conjure a towel for them," Hermione persisted.

"Consider this part of their punishment," Harry replied as they all started marching down the corridor. "I know we could remove a small number of points for this, but I'd bet this will be more memorable and teach them not to do this again."

Hermione thought about that for a long moment. "I supposed you have a point."

Harry smiled at her. "What do you think, Mr Jefferies and Miss Stebbins?" They didn't answer and just kept silent, causing Harry to smirk at Hermione. He cast a spell and a ghostly stag appeared and ran in front of them.

"Why did you just do a Patronus, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I wanted to make sure Flitwick was awake and knew we were coming, just in case he needed a moment to find his slippers," he replied.

"You make it sound like it carried a message. How did you learn that? Where did you learn that?" she queried.

"It's a variation of the Patronus charm," he answered. "Professor Flitwick taught it to me and he said Professor Dumbledore taught him long ago."

"Can you-"

"Yes, yes," he answered before she finished, already knowing she'd want to learn. "It is useful."

"Thank you," she told him, sounding very pleased.

When they arrived, Harry made the couple knock on the door and it was answered immediately. Flitwick looked like he'd dressed hurriedly; he also looked quite shocked at the couple standing in front of him.

"Mr Jeffries, Miss Stebbins, I am … surprised, and appalled!" the professor told his two students. "Where are your clothes?"

"He has them," the girl snarled.

Harry floated the bag to the Professor. "I found the clothes on the floor. Since they seemed to be willing to be underdressed outside of their dorms, I figured they wouldn't mind walking back here in the same manner. I also thought it might be a good reminder that they shouldn't do this again." Harry shrugged. "We didn't take any points, so all other punishments are up to you, sir."

The professor looked amused at Harry's notions of punishment. "Thank you, Mr Potter. I'll let the two of you continue your patrol. As for you two," he glared unhappily at the two seventh years, "that will be three evenings of detention with Mr Filch and then a week of detentions with me to do some chores I've been putting off."

"Good-night, Professor," Harry bid him and turned.

Hermione followed his example. A moment later she said, "I still think making them walk through the corridors like that was a bit extreme. How would you like someone to do that to you?"

"None of the other students saw them," he pointed out. "To answer your question, I'd remember it, but the more important thing is that I wouldn't be that stupid - which is kind of funny since they were Ravenclaws - so it doesn't matter," he answered. "If I were that friendly with a girl, I wouldn't do something like that where anyone could find us."

Hermione considered it. "Well, that won't be a problem for me as I can't imagine any boy here I'd do that with. I think it'll be a few years at the soonest."

"No one?" Harry asked amazed. "Not a single boy?"

She shot him a look. "There is a _very_ small number that I might consider, but I don't believe any of them are available. The best of them tend to be taken quickly," she added.

Harry thought about that. "Hmm, I guess I can see that." He missed the brief wistful look from his friend.

* * *

Saturday was the day for Quidditch tryouts, so Harry grabbed his broom and headed to the Pitch. He found Susan in the Entrance Hall, who grabbed his hand and walked with him.

"Are you excited?" she asked.

"Not really. I mean, I'm excited to fly again after not being able to finish last year because of Umbridge, and I didn't fly this summer, but for the game?" He shrugged. "I already know I'm on the team, it was a condition for Ron getting the Captain's badge."

"Oh?"

"You know how his temperament has changed this year?" asked Harry.

"Who doesn't?" she replied with almost a snort.

"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to help him not let that out of control. Sounds a bit impossible if you ask me, but I'm supposed to and willing to try."

She nodded as they walked on in the pretty day towards the school's small stadium.

When they arrived, Harry saw Ron bending down and examining the ground. "What are you doing, mate?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Ron shot back sounding a little annoyed. "I'm determining the condition of the pitch before we do anything."

Harry looked at Susan, who looked as puzzled as he felt. "Err, Ron, unless someone's changed the rules, this game is played in the air. The condition of the ground doesn't matter."

Ron gave him an even more annoyed look. "And when the Quaffle gets dropped, you need to know how it's going to bounce, but you're a Seeker so I guess you don't care."

"From the games I've watched," Harry returned, doing his best to keep his annoyance to himself, "that happens once - maybe twice - a game. In fact, it never happened in the World Cup game we saw."

"Those one or two times may be the difference between winning and losing," Ron insisted as he stood and then gestured towards Susan. "What's she doing here? She's not a Gryffindor."

"She told me she wanted to watch me fly…"

"She can't stay here," Ron interrupted him emphatically.

Harry sighed and turned to Susan. "Do you promise that anything you see here will be kept to yourself?"

Susan expression changed from worried to pleased. "I so promise to keep anything I see at the practice to myself."

"Splendid," Harry said with a nod. "You might want to join Hermione in the stands though."

She pulled on his hand slightly and placed a kiss on his cheek as he leaned over, then she dropped his hand and walked away to the stairs to the Gryffindor stands.

"Harry!" Ron growled.

"Ron, just stop! Stop and take a few deep breaths." Harry was glad his friend had stopped, but it was obvious his deep breaths were in anger. "Ron, she doesn't even care all that much about Quidditch. She says she only goes to the games to see a few people fly - like me - because she admires our skill; the main reason she goes is to visit with her friends. Get a grip, mate."

He stared at him hard for a long moment before Ron finally nodded. "Let's get going then."

Ron walked over towards the small crowd on the field and Harry turned towards a noise he heard on his right and saw Ginny.

"Good job," she told him as they slowly walked to the others.

"He's so normal sometimes, and so difficult at others," he commented softly. "The change is maddening."

"Uh-huh," she said distractedly and just as softly as they joined the others.

Harry watched the practice and helped out as needed, which wasn't much. He did take a few laps, did some dives, and sort of knocked the rust off from not having flown for something like six months. It felt really good.

As he paused, he looked over at the stands to see Susan and Hermione both watching him avidly. He waved and got a wave back before he heard a yell from Ron which forced him to return his attention to the tryouts.

He swooped down as Ron started to yell at the Beater hopefuls again and landed right in front of Ron and immediately pushed him backward.

"Mate, calm down or you're going to scare them off and then you won't have any Beaters and no team." He saw Ron breathe heavily and nod once before he turned away for a minute.

Harry walked over to the guys trying out and who looked a little scared. "Hey, don't worry about him; his bark is far worse than his bite. While you're waiting, each of you grab a bat I'll put the Bludgers in training mode and you can bat them back and forth to warm up, OK?"

After they were started, Harry turned to find Ron and saw that Ginny had a hand on her brother's shoulder and was talking with him. She seemed to be standing a little stiffly and had her arm straight as if standing as far away as possible, but it looked like she was handling it. Ron eventually nodded as she patted his shoulder and flew off to join the other Chasers as if someone was after her.

Looking around the pitch to see what else needed to be done, he saw a gray and black tabby cat sitting very inconspicuously in the shadows. He considered goosing the cat with a carefully cast blast of air, but he was reasonably sure that the professor would consider that going too far. Not sure what else to do, he returned to the Beaters and did his best to ignore his head of house.

— — —

Susan and Hermione walked up to a warm and wind-tussled Harry, but only his girlfriend put an arm around his waist.

"That looked like it went well, all things considered," Hermione commented as Ginny walked over, looking excited. "What's the big deal?" she asked the redhead. "You were on the team last year."

"Not as a chaser and that's what I really wanted," Ginny replied.

"You deserved it," Harry told her, causing her to smile even more. "Good job with Ron after he lost it with the Beaters. What did you do?"

Ginny smirked. "I made an analogy to chess and pointed out that Beaters were like knights and he didn't want to play without his knights; and that he was making his queen unhappy and just how difficult it is to win without a queen."

Hermione looked at Ginny and then at Harry before cracking up in a giggle.

Harry just blinked a few times before he realized what was going on. In a slightly strangled voice, he managed to ask, "You compared me to a queen? Do I look like a queen?"

All the girls started laughing at him as he looked incredulously at the new Chaser.

Ron took that moment to walk up. "What's so funny?" he asked in a good mood.

Harry shook his head. Well, this was better than an attack by Voldemort … barely, he thought.

* * *

Harry walked into his Runes classroom for his second lesson. He was five minutes early and he was again the last one to arrive. "Err, was the start time changed and I didn't know?"

Professor Babbling chuckled. "No, Mr Potter, but if you're able to come a little early, we can end a little early as well."

He looked around and saw the others nodding. "Right, maybe fifteen before seven?" The other three nodded again.

"Very good, fifteen before," the Professor said. "Now I hope everyone did their reading. But first, please hand in your homework and your extra credit assignment if you attempted it." Each student handed in two pieces of parchment. Babbling handed each back a single sheet. "While I grade these, please take this short quiz to see what you've learned so far. It's also a way for me to know that you did your reading."

Zabini groaned ever so softly, but Harry only shook his head as he put his name on the top and started.

Halfway through his quiz, Harry noticed Babbling straighten a stack of parchment and place it on the front of her desk and then pick up another stack. He returned to his quiz, which was harder than prior quizzes as Babbling made little "uh-hmm" sounds for this stack.

When he finished, he looked around and saw that the others were still working, rechecking he assumed and he did the same. He liked his answers and didn't change anything.

"Time's up," the teacher called and collected the quizzes before grabbing a stack to hand back. "Everyone did well on the homework. Keep that up and you will all do well in this class."

She grabbed another stack. "The best possible answer could receive five extra points on the next test. Miss Jones and Mr Hopkins, good attempt, one point for each of you. Mr Zabini, also a good attempt, two points. Mr Potter," she paused, "I don't need a magical oath, but your word that this was all your work?"

He was surprised. "Yes, Professor. I didn't even mention it to any of my friends nor did I ask a teacher."

"Where did you get your information?" she asked.

"You mentioned seventh year Arithmancy, so I looked at one of those books and found a passage that explained some magical theory and thought about how that might apply. I also thought about what works for me."

Babbling smiled at him as she handed it back. "Please read your work to the class."

Harry was amazed at the big red and circled "+5 pts Outstanding!" on the top of the paper.

He cleared his throat and started, feeling a bit nervous from all the attention.

" _How can spell movements be simplified if they are really a rune that produces a spell? Magical theory says that spells are really based on only three parts: Focus, Will, and Power._

"Our wand movements along with the trigger-word or words are something taught to help us learn spells and to make it easier. Many magicals believe the wand movement to be analogous to a rune, but the common belief among Master Arithmancers is that it is truly not.

"A start to the explanation is that as experience is gained by the caster, the need for the trigger-word is lessened if the student tries, hence soundless casting in the sixth or seventh year.

"It seems that with more experience and effort, the need for the wand movement also disappears and a more pure form of casting is used where only Focus, Will, and Power are all that matters as theory suggests. This can even happen before school is finished for some spells that are truly mastered. Also, some spells don't seem to have a specific wand moment and are only successful in this more pure form of casting, which is why they are harder to learn.

"For this more pure form of casting, an increase in Focus or Will is usually all that's required to simplify the wand movements, even to the point of a single jab to indicate the direction for the spell to go. At times, if Focus or Will isn't enough, that can be compensated for by applying more Power, at least to a point. It must also be kept in mind that all spells have a minimum Power requirement, so there are limits to how much Power may be used to compensate."

Harry laid his work down and looked up to see a beaming teacher. A glance around showed the other three to be looking at him in amazement, Zabini the most.

"That is a brilliant summation, Mr Potter, and even I would have trouble giving a better answer for an explanation that short. You left out some details, but this assignment wasn't about those but about the overall reason for the change in casting. Your mention of silent casting, which you're presently learning in your Defense class, was also very well done. Bravo! It's a shame you didn't take Arithmancy so you could have added more."

Babbling looked at the entire class now. "Everyone open your books to chapter six. We will review your reading briefly before we write a short story as a class using Norse runes."

— — —

Harry dropped into a seat around the long table most of the sixth years were sitting at, with Ginny beside Hermione as had been usual lately.

"You looked dead, mate," Ron said and several of the others nodded slightly in agreement.

"Triple periods are not fun, but it's the only way to squeeze three years into two because the professor already has a full schedule," he answered. "Still, I like the class."

"You're mental," Ron argued. "Ancient Runes is just a bunch of useless old languages."

"Our oldest brother makes a lot of money with useless old languages," Ginny reminded him, making Ron look cross, but he didn't argue either.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry called as he pulled his Runes book out and set tonight's notes and parchments to the side. "When do we start learning how to do wards with runes?"

"I'm sorry, Harry, but you'll only see a little bit of that at the end of fifth year, or next year for you. We're only starting to really look at it this year, and even then we won't go very far." Hermione suddenly reached out and grabbed a piece of parchment from his stack.

He saw the red "Outstanding" on the top of the parchment. "Oh, I made the mistake of asking a question in class and she gave us an assignment and a chance to earn extra points on our next test."

"You gave her an answer good enough for five extra points!" Hermione's raised voice drew everyone's attention who was nearby. Parvati rose and walked down to look.

"It's not that hard, is it? I mean, you said you earned a lot of points in Babbling's class," Harry said a little embarrassed.

"She doesn't hand out many chances for extra test points," Parvati answered, "and I've never seen an answer worth five points. Hermione?"

The girl shook her head. "I've received several three's, but I've never heard of a five either. Where did this question come from?"

"Oh, err, I asked it after mentioning that wand movements were really like their own rune language and why was it possible to not do those movements sometimes and still make the spell work." Harry was still embarrassed for everyone looking at him.

"That's really interesting," Neville said thoughtfully, looking as if he was thinking out loud. "You're right; the older wizards don't always use the same wand movements that we learn here. I mean some do, but not all, or at least not on all spells. That's kind of interesting to wonder about."

"This bit about magical theory is fascinating!" Hermione said excitedly, drawing seventh year Katie Bell's attention and getting her to walk over.

Katie read over Hermione's shoulder. "That is interesting. Professor Vector said we'd be discussing this later in the year." She looked at Harry. "Is this why you wanted to look at my Arithmancy book?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "I found the part about Focus, Will, and Power in there and sort of worked out the other parts on my own."

"Well, I'm very impressed," Hermione told him, while Parvati and Katie nodded.

Ron harrumphed. "You're turning into a swot just like her…" Ron waved his hand in the direction of Hermione as he went silent, although his mouth continued to move. It took him a moment and a look at Harry with his wand out and pointed at him with an angry look to figure out what had happened.

"There's no excuse for insulting her or anyone else." Harry narrowed his eyes as Ron seemed to be getting angrier at being silenced. "In fact, since I'm a Prefect, three points from Gryffindor for insulting someone." He looked at Hermione, "I'll turn in the form to McGonagall tomorrow. Good-night everyone."

He grabbed his things, including his homework when Hermione held it out with a grateful look and went to bed. It had been a tiring but good evening right until Ron ruined it. He had no idea what those brain-things had done to his friend, but he hated the change in his friend and wanted his old friend back.

* * *

As the end of September neared, Ginny waved Harry over as he returned to the common room from visiting the Hufflepuff common room just before curfew. It was a Saturday night and about half of the Gryfs were still up and talking.

He approached her and saw that Hermione was with her as usual and was looking a bit nervous.

She pulled out her wand and levitated another chair over to be with theirs in the corner. "Could you please put up your muffling charm?" Ginny asked as she took the seat that faced away from the room.

"Sure," he said and did it. "What's up?"

Ginny looked down for a moment. "You've been helping Hermione and you've sort of been helping me too. I've decided to let you know what's going on with me. Maybe you can give me some good advice, but I don't think so. Hermione also seems to think that telling you might ease my conscience too." She shrugged and didn't look so positive on this part.

Harry noticed that she refused to look at him.

"Before I do, I need a promise that you won't tell anyone this, and I mean absolutely no one." Ginny looked up at him finally and she had a hard look.

"That important?"

"What I'm going to tell you could almost destroy me, and probably Hermione too." At his shocked look, she added, "You're the only person we trust enough to tell. Only two others here know half of this and they're sworn to secrecy also, not to mention we have blackmail material on them so they'll never tell our secret."

He had no idea what could be that secret and wondered if this was something that he just didn't understand about the Wizarding world. "Very well, I promise not mention any of this to anyone and to try to help you in any way I can."

"Thank you," Ginny breathed. After a moment, she reached out one hand towards Hermione who took it.

"It started four years ago. I've always told everyone that I don't remember anything from when the diary possessed me, but that's not completely true. I have only a few memories of events from the beginning when the possession wasn't very strong, but I have lots of memories of emotions. A lot of feelings that I had, and still do, I have trouble classifying and understanding. However, the one I understand the most is fear.

"Tom feared a lot of things and I have many of those fears now too. I can hide them most of the time, but sometimes … sometimes I fear _Him_ and what he did to me, how he took my control away." Tears started to leak down Ginny's face.

Harry reached out and Ginny grabbed his hand with her remaining free hand, squeezing him so hard it surprised him and almost hurt. "It's all right, I'm here and I won't let him hurt you tonight, or ever if I can help it."

Ginny gave him a scared smile that didn't last long. "I've tried to be normal and mostly succeeded. I even dated Michael Corner to prove to myself that I didn't hate boys, just the one boy who took advantage of me mentally and emotionally." She paused and took a deep breath. "Michael and I didn't break-up over a Quidditch game like I said. We broke up because he tried to reach under my blouse. I punched him and broke his nose before I sent my Bat-Boogey hex at him."

Harry was shocked. "Ginny, I … I'm so sorry." Hearing that made him want to go do something unpleasant to the boy. Then again, her Bat Bogey hex on someone with a broken nose was probably punishment enough.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "Last June, I went with you to the Ministry because you'd been there for me ... in leading the D.A. and especially in the Chamber of Secrets. I felt like I owed you."

"You don't owe me," he told her.

"I do, Harry," she insisted. "I owe you and so I put on my game face and went, even though I was so afraid I'd see Tom again. Then Hermione was almost killed. That scared me, but only a little more. Still, it was a little more on an already large pile. When I heard that Tom was upstairs, I was never so glad I had broken my ankle and couldn't go up there. That's not very Gryffindor of me, but I was so scared I didn't care.

"The worst was this summer, I think. It was the breaking point for certain." She paused and sniffled a little as a new round of tears started to fall.

Harry reached out and took her hand in both of his. She shifted her grip and he was grateful as he felt blood start to return to his first hand.

"The night after Ron returned home to the Burrow, I was having a nightmare; I can't even tell you what it was about, but I remember finding my pyjamas soaked with sweat and stuck to me. What woke me up wasn't the nightmare, but a hand under my pyjama top. If that wasn't bad enough, I had a flashback to the time with Corner and I think I wandlessly summoned my wand and did a Bat-Boogey hex."

Harry closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, while wishing yet again he hadn't taken his friends to the Ministry.

"He was standing over me and I … I hit Ron between the legs with it. I'm not sure if I screamed more because of what he did to me or what happened to him. My parents rushed him to St Mungo's and the healers think they fixed him, but there is a large possibility he won't ever be able to father children.

"I haven't told anyone but the two of you what really happened. I told my family that I was having a nightmare from the Chamber of Secrets and reacted when Ron grabbed my arm and woke me; they don't know what he really did to me. Ron doesn't have any memory of walking into my room or anything he did in there. He was told his injury came from falling down and landing on an object that injured him.

"Considering that I'd told them I felt like I had been attacked, even if it was an accident, it wasn't too hard to convince my parents to put a lock on my door the next day, one that can be opened only from the inside. In addition, Ron was locked into his room at night for the next two weeks.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm never around Ron anymore unless you're nearby. The thirty second talk I had with Ron at the Quidditch tryouts was the longest I've spoken with him since he attacked me and I was so scared when I did that."

"You didn't look it," he told her before he remembering her standing there stiffly and at arm's length.

"That was all an act and I only did it because you were nearby. I'm so scared of boys right now, just like Hermione. I begged her to come over to the Burrow and we've…" Ginny paused and had to breathe a few times first. "We've been sleeping together almost ever since, even though my mum set up a cot for her like normal. We use each other like a living teddy bear for security. When Hermione had to go home, I went with her so we could continue."

Neither girl would look at him at the moment. "I don't know what to say about Ron, Ginny, other than it was wrong of him and I don't blame you for what you did. However, there's nothing wrong about you and Hermione seeking comfort from each other when you're troubled and need security. I guess I'm not scary for you like I'm not scary for Hermione?"

Ginny finally looked up with a hard look again. "No, I trust you or you wouldn't know this, Harry; but you don't understand. It _is_ just security between Hermione and me, but if others found out, they'd assume we were doing other things and it would be a scandal. Hermione told me this sort of thing is more accepted in the non-magical world, but it's an issue here. It's a very big issue if we want to stay in Wizarding Society."

Harry shook his head with a little bit of despair. "It's not fair." It wasn't fair to them or to him as he would have known this if his parents had lived. This also wasn't fair to Ron.

"It's not, but that's the way it is," Ginny confirmed.

Pulling his hands away from her, he used his wand to conjure a handkerchief and handed it to Ginny, who took it gratefully and cleaned her face. "I don't know that I can do much for you," he told her after some thought, "other than to run interference for you too. I can at least do that much for you."

"Thank you!" she gushed as she threw herself at him and gave him a tight hug for his acceptance. When she finally let go and sat back down, Hermione gave him a hug also, although much shorter.

When they were all sitting again, the beginning of an idea came to him. He looked at his fellow Prefect. "How much longer until we have patrol?"

Hermione looked at her watch. "It's about fifteen minutes before eleven."

Harry considered that for a moment before he pulled his Marauder's Map out, something he almost always had on him this year. Looking it over, he smiled when he found the current patrols. "Right, let's leave now; I need to do something."

"What?"

Harry put the Map in his pocket and took his charm down, ignoring Hermione's question. "Hang in there, Ginny. I have a small idea; maybe I can do something with it to help more."

"Thanks, Harry." Ginny stood and looked at Hermione. "I'll wait for you upstairs." She hurried to the stairs to the girls' rooms under Hermione's watchful eye.

Harry led them out and was walking with purposeful strides. "Hermione, we've been at school almost a month now. Do you think Ron is any better than when the year started?"

Hermione concentrated on the steps she hurried down to keep up with him as she tried to think that through. "Maybe, but maybe not; it's hard to tell."

"Unfortunately, I agree," he said sadly as he checked the Map and put it away again quickly before walking even faster.

A moment later, they turned a corner near the kitchens and could see a couple ahead. "Hannah! Ernie!" Harry called.

The two Hufflepuffs look surprised at seeing him. "What's wrong, Harry?" Hannah asked.

"Would you do me a big favor? Please tell Susan that I won't see her at breakfast tomorrow and probably not all morning. I have a … family thing to take care of and I'll see her at lunch."

The two Puffs both gave him a strange look, but Hannah eventually nodded. "OK, I'll tell her."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I didn't want her to worry about me when I didn't show up," Harry said.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that," Hannah replied.

Harry smiled. "Thanks again, we'll see you two later." He turned and led Hermione away and once around the corner, pulled his Map back out and looked at it again. "Come on, we need to run." He took off for the nearest stair case.

"Harry Potter! What are you doing?!" Hermione called after him as she tried to keep up with him.

Both were breathing hard by the time they reached the third floor. "I think we'll catch him by the time we hit the fifth. Don't stop now," he told her almost but not quite as out of breath as she was.

When they reached the fifth floor, Harry pulled out his wand and slowed down.

"Who are we trying to catch?" she asked as she puffed like a bellows.

"Malfoy - I saw him on the Map. He should be about to come around the next corner." He put a hand on her arm to hold her back behind the corner they were beside. He also pulled out the Map and looked. Pointing at it, they saw Malfoy was alone and coming this way.

Harry just waited and let Malfoy come to them; the Slytherin seemed to be heading for the stairs. Harry put the Map in his pocket and waited, almost back to his normal breathing rate.

As Malfoy walked around the corner and saw who was there, he froze for a moment before he said, "Oh bloody hell."

"You might be a Prefect, but you're not on the schedule tonight and curfew was an hour ago," Harry said with amusement.

Draco Malfoy sighed in frustration. "Fine, you caught me. Take me to Snape."

There was something about the way he said it that gave Harry an idea. "About that, Malfoy, I think we'll head a different direction. I can think of a better Professor to take you to."

Malfoy just blinked at him for a moment. "You're delusional, Scarhead. I know the rules and they say you take anyone you catch out of bounds back to their head of house."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be seeing Snape soon, but I think we need to have one stop first. Go on as you were then take a left," Harry directed him. When the Slytherin didn't move and looked at him in puzzlement, Harry told him, "Go or I can stun you and levitate you."

"You wouldn't?" Malfoy practically dared him.

"With delight, Mr Malfoy." Harry jabbed his wand in the direction Draco should go and a ghostly stag came out of his wand and ran off. "After you."

The blond boy started to walk. Hermione gave him a puzzled look too, but she kept quiet and kept her wand out, although at her side.

After a couple of minutes of walking Malfoy finally stopped and looked at the two Gryffindors. "You're taking me to McGonagall, aren't you?"

"She is the Deputy Headmaster," Harry answered with a smile. "Go on, we're almost there."

Another minute later and Harry was knocking on the door to his head of house, a door which was opened very quickly with his Transfiguration teacher looking as she usually did. "What's the problem, Mr Potter?" She was already giving the third person there careful scrutiny.

"Mr Malfoy was on the fifth floor by the main staircase a few minutes ago. He is also not on the patrol schedule tonight. While I realize the normal procedure would be to take him to Professor Snape, I didn't think that would do much good," Harry told her matter-of-factly.

McGonagall considered that for a moment. "Is that all true, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Mr Malfoy, what were you doing out of your house area after curfew?" McGonagall gave him one of her stern looks.

Harry had to give him credit. Malfoy fidgeted, but didn't say anything for the long moment McGonagall looked at him.

"Very well, Mr Potter and Miss Granger, please escort him to Professor Snape. I shall assign punishment tomorrow after I find out what Professor Snape plans to do. Mr Malfoy, I would strongly suggest you pay more attention to the clock. If you are out again like this, you will find yourself without a Prefect badge." McGonagall bid them good-night and closed her door.

Malfoy was silent all the way down and even when they knocked on Snape's door. The dour man opened his door dressed in his night gown. "I should have known it'd be you, Potter."

Before he could go off on some rant, Harry quickly said, "Professor, we caught Malfoy on the fifth floor a few minutes ago on our patrol. We're returning him to you for punishment."

Snape stared at them for a moment. "Very well, I have custody of him. Be on your way."

"Good-evening, Professor," Harry told him evenly and left with his partner.

He could hear Malfoy being told to get inside before the door was closed. He turned to his partner and said, "See the difference. I know Snape doesn't have to tell us the punishment Malfoy gets, but Flitwick made sure we knew the Ravenclaws were punished when we caught them, and McGonagall promised there will be punishment. With Snape … nothing."

"All the heads of house will never act the same way," she told him.

"But Snape is always different and usually very much so," he countered.

Hermione didn't argue back and they finished their patrol with no other issues.

— — —

As Hermione entered her dorm room, she saw Parvati climb into Lavender's bed and close the curtains. She changed into her pyjamas and went to her bed, climbing in next to the little redhead that was waiting for her.

Ginny grabbed her and pulled her close, laying her head on Hermione's shoulder. "I hope you were right about being able to trust Harry."

"He's the only one I trust fully," she told her friend as she rubbed Ginny's back.

After a long moment, Ginny asked, "I'm glad he took our relationship and situation so well. Do you think Parv and Lav really do anything more or are they just like us?"

Hermione nuzzled the top of Ginny's head and held her tightly for a moment. "I don't really know and I'm not sure I really want to know. I'm happy with this and I don't see any need to go further."

Ginny squeezed her body with the arm over her. "Thank you, Hermione. I feel like I can relax when I'm with you."

* * *

The next morning, Harry rose early and headed to the kitchens for a quick bite to break his nightly fast. That taken care of, he headed to see the school nurse before most other students were even up on a Sunday. He knew the nurse was usually an early riser, having stayed with her often enough.

Sure enough, inside the hospital wing, he found her already moving around and checking on a younger boy who had stayed the night.

"Mr Potter? Is something wrong?"

Harry had had one idea and it was the only thing he could think of to help his friend. "Not with me, but I'd like to talk to you about something … sensitive with a friend."

"Will this take awhile?"

"Possibly," he answered with a shrug.

She snapped her fingers. "Milly?"

An elf popped in. "You called Madam Nurse?"

"Yes, please get something light for breakfast for my patient, perhaps some porridge and juice, no milk," she ordered.

"Yes, Madam Nurse." The elf popped away and Pomfrey led him to her office and took a seat at her desk.

Harry closed the door and took a seat.

"What is the problem with … a friend of yours?" she asked.

He looked down for a moment and gathered his courage. "Madam Pomfrey, have you fully read the file for Ron, what happened to him and what the healers at St Mungo's did to help him?"

"Oh, this really is about a friend," she said then hurried on. "I have, Mr Potter, but that is confidential information."

"That's fine, I don't really want to know specifics, I wanted to know if you knew the specifics," he told her.

"I do, but why do you ask?"

"He doesn't seem to be getting better and I've been hearing some disturbing things about him. I want to know if anything else can be done for him." He looked at her and hoped.

"What has he been doing?"

This was a fine line, he thought. "I'm afraid that I've promised not to tell, but let's say that he's done some things he wouldn't have normally and that he's hurt some people. Worse, as far as we can tell, he has no memory of these events, so it's hard to help him not to do anything like that again. That's in addition to his anger problems that he can't seem to control. I'm more worried about this last one than the others as they shouldn't happen again, or at least I believe they won't."

When she sat contemplatively, he added, "I'm willing to pay for any treatment that can be done to help him. It would probably have to be anonymously since I wouldn't expect the Weasleys to take my money, but I feel a little guilty about putting Ron in the situation where he got hurt and I have the money; Ron is more important than the money."

Pomfrey smiled at him. "A noble sentiment, Mr Potter. I can make a vague guess at one thing you can't tell me based on his medical history, but I won't ask so you don't have to deny it.

"I can think of at least one and possibly two things that might be done to help him. I'm sure cost was a factor in one of them."

"So there's hope?" he asked with a little excitement.

"There's almost always hope, Mr Potter, but I don't know if it's a little or a lot," she explained. "Also, what I'm thinking of, or really any added treatment, would have to be approved by his parents and his healer at St Mungo's, in addition to Professor Dumbledore since he's also a student here. Also," she gave him a caring look, "this isn't like a broken bone that can be healed overnight. Even if what I'm thinking of works, it will still take time; probably months … the help will be gradual."

"Even gradual help would be good." He looked at her in frustration. "He also needs it because I'm not sure how else to help him. Trying to watch over him is wearing on his sister and it's not easy for me either. I don't know where the breaking point is, but we both have limits before we say something that shouldn't be said."

"I know you do dear and I think what you two have been doing has been helpful for him," she said kindly. "Would you like to help me talk to the Headmaster and then his parents? I can at least let you do that."

Harry smiled and felt better than he had last night. "I'd love to."

— — —

Harry walked into the Great Hall and immediately went to Ginny, glad that Ron had already been pulled to the hospital wing for a discussion. He leaned down to whisper to Ginny. "I've arranged for some help for Ron. They don't know how much it will help or how fast it will come, but they are hopeful for some reversal."

Ginny jumped up and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered fiercely.

"I feel a little guilty for taking him there…"

"Nonsense!" she told him and let him go. "We did it because we wanted to. Still, thank you for helping."

"Of course." He squeezed her shoulder and walked around the table and over two, before walking up the aisle and sitting in the empty place next to his girlfriend.

"Everything all right?" Susan asked him a little coolly.

"I hope things will get better, or I have to believe that," he told her as he started to dish some food for himself.

"Care to explain yourself with the youngest Weasley?" she asked.

It was at that moment that her words and tone really sank into his thought process. He sort of wanted to bang his head on the table, but resisted. "She shared a family problem with me last night and I spent the morning trying to get some help. She was just thanking me." As she continued to give him a pointed look, he whispered, "Ron," very softly.

"I see."

He thought she relaxed some, but it looked like she still wasn't totally fine with it all. He decided she did need to know at least something, so he pulled out his wand, made sure it was hidden from Snape, and cast the muffling charm on just the two of them.

"Ernie we have a problem," he said in a normal voice and was pleased when the boy didn't react. "OK, they can't hear us. Susan, I've promised I won't tell some things that I know, but I can tell you that Ron's not doing well and he doesn't seem to be getting better and I want to help him. The Weasleys aren't really family, but I'm closer to them than to anyone else in the Wizarding world, and I will help them where I can. You have nothing to worry about with Ginny or Hermione or any other girl for that matter."

She stared into his eyes for a moment before putting a hand up and cupping a cheek. "I'm so sorry for not trusting you," she said contritely. "Sometimes, this is all a little new to me too and I have ideas and assumptions that aren't always right."

"Like what?"

Susan smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, one of my secrets. Even if girls are wrong, you'll rarely be told, so be happy I'm even admitting this much."

"You know it's really unfair that you won't admit your problems but I'm supposed to share _everything_ ," he complained.

She patted his cheek. "That's life, but I'll make it up to you later. Take down your charm; people are starting to wonder about us."

He noticed that they were receiving some funny looks from those around them who could see them talking but not hear them. He took the charm down and they resumed trying to be normal.

Susan did make it up to him with some nice kisses. He decided that life wasn't automatically bad when they disagreed.

* * *

On Monday morning, two days later, Susan joined Harry at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. It wasn't until they all started eating and she heard his voice that she realized hadn't seen Ron all day yesterday. She almost leaned over to ask Harry about it, but caught herself as she realized how rude that would have been. Curbing her curiosity, she watched and listened, her usual behavior when she joined the Gryfs.

When they all started walking to Potions class for the morning, she slowed Harry down so they had some privacy while they walked slowly. "Harry, if I can ask, where was Ron yesterday? I realized this morning that he was missing all day yesterday."

Harry looked around before he pulled his hand from hers and put his arm around her shoulder and leaned towards her to whisper. "It's part of my help for Ron. I helped to convince his parents that he needed more help to get better so he'll be gone one evening a week and all day on Sundays … probably until Christmas, maybe longer."

"I thought there wasn't anything else to do, you know, other than giving things time," she sort of asked.

"There is a potion that can help him be calmer, and even though there's not an official position of 'mind healer', there are people who do something like what you'd think mind healers would do. Ron will be talking with people who do those things."

Susan considered that. "I'm glad you could help, but why weren't those done before?"

Harry looked around again. "This stays between us?" At her nod, he said, "They're a very proud family and wouldn't accept any extra help before. I convinced the Headmaster to say that it was the school's responsibility since the school let us leave the grounds. I'm paying for it through him; they couldn't afford it otherwise."

She beamed at him. "That's very nice of you."

"Well," he sighed. "Deep down, I know it wasn't really my fault, but I still feel a little responsible, if not guilty. I also inherited some money from my godfather and I think Sirius would wanted the Black gold spent this way."

"You're a good man, Harry Potter," she said as they walked into class.

* * *

(A/N: Significant credit must be given to LordDwar and "Summer of Change" for the magical theory. While not exactly like his explanation, that was the inspiration for mine and I used a large part of his.)

Also note, that the term 'mind healer' doesn't appear in the books but is a fan-fiction thing, hence Harry's comment.

Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	7. Bridges

(A/N: Some of you have been anticipating a conversation in regards to the girls, here it is…)

* * *

 **Chapter 7 - Bridges**

Susan stood in the Entrance Hall and she was very worried. Harry had told her this morning that he'd meet her over an hour ago and she hadn't been able to find him. She knew he wasn't in the Great Hall, so about all she could do was wait for a little help.

She breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw help coming in the form of a group of Gryffindors. "Hermione!" She called and waved the girl over. As expected, two girls walked over. She had been putting off a discussion with them, but now was not the time to do it either.

"I need your help," Susan said quickly, looking at both Hermione and Ginny. "Harry was supposed to meet me over an hour ago and I can't find him." She saw a small look of fear come over the two of them.

"We haven't seen him in a couple of hours," Hermione said and looked at Ginny.

"Something like that," the redhead agreed.

This worried Susan even more. "Where could he be? Do you think something happened to him, like someone kidnapped him?"

"Possible with his luck, but unlikely," Ginny said as she craned her neck to look into the Great Hall. "The usual suspects look to be acting normal for them. We need the Ma-"

"Not possible," Hermione said quickly, cutting her off.

That made Susan wonder what that was about.

"Let's try elimination," Hermione continued. "We know he's not in Gryffindor Tower. Where else is likely?"

"He's not with Hagrid," Ginny said. "Hagrid's inside."

"He has a few favorite places by the lake, but it's dark outside and Harry probably wouldn't go there now." Hermione wrung her hands. "The training room; it's there or out by the lake."

"Right, I can check the room," Susan said. "If I don't find him, I'll come back and get you to help me look by the lake."

"We can help look," Hermione volunteered.

"I'll take the easy one and then come get you if I need to." Susan looked around again, still hoping Harry would show up, but she still didn't see him. She also made a decision. "And we need to talk, the three of us. Saturday morning?"

Hermione looked at Ginny for a moment; they nodded at each other although neither looked enthusiastic about it.

Susan smiled and put a hand on the shoulder of each girl. "Thank you; hopefully I'll find him in a few minutes."

She strode quickly towards the main staircase, passing a few people who were a little late in going to the Halloween Feast, something she had been looking forward to, as she did each year.

Because it was one of the big Feasts, technically, they each should have sat at their own house tables, but she thought that Sprout and McGonagall wouldn't say anything if she invited Harry to sit at the Hufflepuff table. According to Harry, McGonagall had been amused to hear that her Lion was now an honorary Badger. She suspected that McGonagall's reply was along the idea that "they" could pretend Harry was badger, be he'd always be a lion to her.

Arriving at the spot opposite of Barnabas the Barmy, she saw there was no door. Not sure if that was a good sign or not, she paced back and forth like Harry had told her while thinking of finding a way to Harry.

A door appeared and she felt a tiny bit of relief that she was one step closer. Opening the door, she was surprised to see not a room but a corridor. Harry had told her he was in awe of the room and she was starting to get a better idea as to why.

At the end of the walk was another door. Grabbing the doorknob, she hesitated for a moment, wanting to find him now but also a little afraid of what she'd find. Susan decided that perhaps one thing was in order before she continued on. "Thank you for your help." That seemed silly to talk to a room, but it also seemed right, based on Harry's thoughts.

Pulling up her courage, she opened the door and had to grab her skirt as a fierce chilly wind hit her. Stepping through, she realized she was - somehow - on the top deck of the Astronomy tower, where they took their practical lessons. Why or how the magical room had directed her here, she had no idea, but she looked around.

Off to the side was a huddled figure. Hurriedly, Susan went to him and the door closed behind her before fading out. She knelt beside him as she recognized the outline of his messy hair in the near dark. "Harry? Are you all right?"

Listening, she heard a quiet sob for an answer. Not knowing what else to do, she sat down beside him and pulled him into her arms as best she could and he clung to her.

It had taken several minutes of holding him and telling him she was there for him before she realized that while it was still chilly here, it wasn't all that cold while she was next to him. In fact, she no longer felt the wind at all for some reason. Susan reasoned that he must have put up some spell to block the wind, but she'd never heard of such a spell. He amazed her sometimes.

Eventually, she realized that his sobbing had ended and his grip on her didn't seem so desperate. "Are you all right now?" she asked as she caressed his head and face.

"A little better," he said in a coarse voice from his emotions.

"Can I help?" she asked him, still trying to figure out what was going on. He was normally so strong.

He shook his head while he said, "You already are."

Susan thought that was contradictory because he didn't seem better, but she kept that comment to herself. Waiting a moment to give him time, she eventually asked, "What happened?"

"Today is not a good day," he said after long moment. "I can normally hide it, try to get lost in the excitement, but I just couldn't this year.

'This year?' she asked herself. "What's different this year, Harry?"

"Sirius is dead; I have you; we have this," he told her as he pulled her over and onto his lap, burying his face in her shoulder and hair.

She actually appreciated the position change; this was more comfortable, at least for her. She hoped she wasn't too heavy for him. Back to the conversation, she thought.

"Did I do something wrong, Harry?" She felt him shake his head on her shoulder. "Then what's wrong? Is it Halloween?" His hands tightened around her waist.

"My parents were murdered fifteen years ago tonight. I miss my parents so much sometimes. Every time I think I'm all right, Halloween comes and reminds me of what I don't have. Then I wonder…" he paused, "I wonder if they were as happy as we are and what my childhood would have been like if they'd been there for me."

Susan felt she understood now. To her, Halloween was a fun time, it was festive. To him, it was a reminder of his lost parents and what he didn't have; it was sad. All she felt she could do for him was to tell him, "I'm here for you, Harry, and I love you."

It seemed the right thing to say even if she'd never thought about it completely. She thought she really did love him now, even after only two months.

She wasn't sure if it was agreement or appreciation that motivated him, but he squeezed her tightly for a moment and murmured, "Thank you, I don't really deserve you."

Not the best declaration of love, she thought, but it was a start. She also didn't think she could get any better out of him in his current frame of mind and this was obviously not a moment for a "girlfriend lesson".

They sat there and held each other for a very long time, well over an hour. Eventually, she wondered what time it was and thought they needed to return so they didn't get into trouble. "Harry?" she called softly. He didn't respond and she realized his hold on her was very loose.

Carefully, she pulled his arms away and stood, her joints being a little stiff from not moving. Harry slept on. Pulling her wand out, she levitated him and slowly walked towards the stairs and the door to go inside. She thought it was strange that she still felt no wind, but she counted herself lucky that it had either stopped - or more likely - Harry's spell kept it out of the top of the tower.

As she walked down the corridor, she was surprised at how quiet it was. She felt certain that the Feast should have been over by now. She really hoped it wasn't past curfew. The first person she saw was near her common room and was a very worried looking Hannah, with Ernie right behind her.

"There you are!" Hannah cried before she realized that Susan was floating an unconscious Harry. "What happened?" Her concern switched instantly from her friend to her friend's boyfriend.

"We talked and he fell asleep, I think he's exhausted," Susan explained simply and quietly. "Can you put one of those Silencing charms around him so he doesn't wake up from loud noises.

Hannah did the charm and Ernie said, "You're cutting it very close. It's almost ten and there's no way he can get back in time."

"Then we take him in and take care of him. He's one of us," Susan said adamantly.

"Yes he is," Ernie said approving of the spirit of the idea, "but I'm not sure Sprout will be all that happy when she hears about it."

Hannah looked at Harry and then at Susan. "I've got an idea. Take him inside so you don't get in trouble. We'll go get Sprout and tell her Harry isn't felling well."

"That's actually mostly true," Susan told them.

"Even better. We'll let her take him back," Hannah concluded.

"It's a good plan," Ernie agreed and tapped his wand on the barrel door with this week's pattern, causing it to open for her.

"Thanks!" Susan told her friends and took Harry in. Her entrance caused silence to grow around the room as she walked over to a couch that was empty at the moment. She sat down and then floated Harry so he was lying on the couch with his head on her lap. When she released the Levitation spell, she felt very tired and became aware of how much magic that spell had been using by being held for so long.

"Uh, Susan," Victoria and the female seventh year Prefect said as she walked over, "he's not supposed to be here after curfew."

"I know," the strawberry-blonde replied. "He's not feeling well and they've gone to get Sprout."

The Prefect looked thoughtful and then nodded. "Good plan." She sat on the arm of the couch as if to protect them. "I assume he's spelled not to hear or is he really just that out of it?"

"There's a spell, but I don't think he'd wake even without it." Susan stroked his hair lightly.

"It seems to be going well for you. Are you two serious?"

Susan wasn't sure that was really any of the girl's business. "Well enough. He's been good to me so far."

That seemed to satisfy the older girl. "I'm glad for you then."

The door to the room opened and Professor Sprout walked in and immediately came over and waved her wand over him. "He doesn't seem ill."

"Professor," Susan said softly, trying to keep it to just them, but they did have a small group of people paying attention. Hopefully, Harry wouldn't be unhappy with her. "It's not physical. This may be a holiday for most of us, but for Harry it's a cruel reminder of the saddest day in his life."

Everyone around her went silent again. Sprout was like everyone else, her expression turning grim. "How callous of me," she said softly and sadly. "Let me take him back then. Being a head of house should be good for something some times."

Susan told her, "Thank you," before she leaned over and kissed Harry's forehead.

— — —

Sprout cast a spell on Harry and then levitated him. "I'm glad you were able to take care of him, Miss Bones." She walked out the door someone opened for her and headed towards Gryffindor Tower. She'd stop by Minerva's and tell her what happened when she was done.

Rounding a corner, she saw Severus Snape ahead and nodded to him in silent acknowledgement, as usual.

"Ah, Potter was caught out of bounds. He never should have been a Prefect to begin with," the man said sourly.

Pomona stopped walking for a moment and looked at him. "I've watched Potter become a better human than you will ever be, Severus. He is one of mine even if he wears different colors. Leave him alone or you'll end up wishing you were compost. I hope you haven't forgotten what the House of Badgers can do." Ignoring his angry glare, she returned to her task.

Her first year as a teacher was Severus's seventh year as a student. She'd seen him severely bully a third year Hufflepuff, whom she'd saved. Despite her not giving any direction to do so, her entire house had turned on Snape, giving him a lesson she was sure he hadn't forgotten and his glare had confirmed that. She'd have to mention this to Minerva as well.

At the portrait, Sprout smiled at the Fat Lady. "Annette, if you would. I need to return Mr Potter."

"Of course, Professor. Do I need to tell Professor McGonagall?"

"If you'd like, you can pass a message that I will be along to speak with her in a few minutes."

Sprout walked in and was glad she'd put a charm on the boy to protect him from noise. It was very loud in the common room, which quieted quickly as her presence was recognized. Two girls hurried over.

"Is he all right?" Hermione Granger asked worriedly, just as the youngest Weasley looked.

"He'll be fine by morning," Sprout assured them all. "He merely fell asleep far away from here and I'm returning him. Miss Granger, since you're a Prefect and a friend, could you lead the way to his dorm room please?"

"Of course." Hermione walked for the stairs and a path through the crowd opened.

Upstairs, Sprout placed the boy on the bed the girl had pulled the covers back for. A charm removed his shoes and socks before she transfigured his clothes into pyjamas. "You'll have to tell him to revert the transfiguration." A flick of her wand and the covers moved up to his shoulders. "Thank you for your help, Miss Granger."

"He's not in trouble for being out after curfew, is he?" Hermione asked, still worried.

"Not at all, Miss Granger. Now, I believe you belong downstairs?" Sprout suggested kindly.

A few minutes later, Sprout was knocking quietly on Minerva's door.

"What happened?" the Gryffindor asked as she waved her friend in.

"Nothing serious, I assure you," the Hufflepuff said as she took a seat. "It's too easy for us to remember that this is a holiday for most, but a painful reminder for Mr Potter."

Minerva nodded. "It was difficult losing James and Lily."

"Harry fell asleep with us, so I thought it was be better if I returned him. He's in bed now and I believe he'll be fine in the morning. However," Pomona looked at her friend. "Severus concerns me."

"Severus concerns several of us," Minerva returned, sounding frustrated. "Albus says he trusts him, but Severus's actions and words leave a lot to be desired."

"Quite," Sprout agreed. "He told me tonight that he thought Potter shouldn't have been a Prefect." At her friend's disbelieving snort, she added, "I warned him off and said that I'd protect him as one of my own and I reminded him of what the Hufflepuffs did to him in his seventh year."

Minerva now laughed. "And he's had difficulty with his hair ever since." She shook her head. "He hated James Potter and I believe that whenever he looks at Harry that all he can see is James. He can't seem to let the grudge die. Filius and I are trying to help Harry where we can though."

"Add me to the list," Pomona said as she stood. "I must be going. Good-night, Minerva."

"Good-night, Pomona … and thank you for your help."

* * *

The morning after Halloween, Harry waited for his girlfriend in the Entrance Hall. When she saw him she came over, allowing him to hug her tightly and for a long time.

"This is nice," she said lightly, "but what is it for?"

"Well, I, err, I mean, uh…" He felt so tongue tied wanting to say something special but not sure exactly what to say.

Susan gave him her mischievous smile and placed one finger over his lips. "I can guess, Harry, but I think it's time for another lesson. If your girlfriend does something extra nice for you, a simple 'thank you' is always a good start. If you're not sure what else to say, a single sentence to say why you're thankful will generally suffice. Why don't you try again," she suggested gently.

He nodded, appreciative that she kept her "girlfriend lessons" simple and that she never talked down to him. "Thank you for looking after me last night." At her encouraging look, he added, "Last night was more difficult than any year before and I'm thankful for your presence … it was comforting."

"You're welcome, Harry," she kissed him on the cheek, "and well done.

"Before we go in, I need some 'girl time' Saturday morning for a couple of hours and then you can take me to the Hufflepuff/Slytherin game after lunch. Will that be a problem?"

"No," he told her with a shake of his head. "I can get homework done or maybe practice some of my spells."

Susan shook her head slightly as she grabbed his arm and they started to walk into the large room for breakfast. "I still don't understand why you think you need to practice your spell casting so much since you already do so well, but I appreciate the results. You're also doing very well in leading our study group."

"I try," he told her as they took a seat with his friends.

* * *

Saturday morning, Harry kissed Susan on the cheek after they each had finished breakfast. "Do you still have things to do this morning?"

"Yes, Harry, and I'll be fine," Susan told him. "Run along and I'll see you here at lunch."

"OK," he told her before leaving. He had noticed the Hermione didn't look as cheerful this morning as she usually did, but he assumed she'd stayed up too late reading again. He'd also noticed that Malfoy was watching him, but Harry shrugged it off as he left the Great Hall.

A few minutes later, he was in the Owlery and Hedwig flew down to him. After petting her and spending a little time having a one-sided conversation about how she was "the best owl ever", he gave her a letter to take whenever she was ready.

From there, he went into the Room of Requirement and asked the room to conceal the door. With pleasure, he watched it disappear. "Thanks, room!" he called out as he looked at the usual set of wooden targets he got when he thought about a room with targets.

There were ten poles the width of his hand; Harry sent "arrows of air" at two of them simultaneously. They both split near the top and he could see through the crack. With a thought, the next one split side to side; the arrow was barely visible. He did that for each one before he used an "air axe" and used it to lop the damaged portion off the top. He continued to split them with various air weapons until the poles were kindling.

"Room, a table with pumpkins please?"

A long table with ten medium-sized pumpkins appeared in from of him. This was more realistic in terms of hitting a Death Eater, he thought. Thinking carefully and without moving anything other than his eyes, he sent an arrow of air flying from the left. It went through three of the gourds before taking out a chunk of the side of the fourth and stopping.

"Not bad," he said to himself as he sent a large number of little balls of hard air, something he imagined to be like a hail of bullets. The next two pumpkins were shredded.

Offense looking good, except that he wanted to be able to control more objects at once, he concentrated on defense. With a request, he had a cocked crossbow pointed just to the left of him and a string to the trigger. This was the first time he'd decided to try this and he was a little nervous. He really wanted to have someone fire spells at him to see if his "air shield" would stop spells, but he wasn't ready to tell anyone about his special power yet, not even Susan.

Forcing an opaque wall of air up in front of him and angled slightly to his outside, Harry held his breath and pulled the string. It seemed like he heard the twang of the crossbow going off at the same time he heard the bolt hit his air shield and make a hole in it.

The bolt hit the stone wall behind him and about two feet away. He took a big gulp of air as he looked at the mark on the wall and the broken bolt on the floor. It had been pointed about one foot from him, so the shield had deflected it the other foot, he reasoned. He also thought that maybe the bolt had slowed down a little, but it didn't matter. His first try was a failure.

He asked for a new bolt and reloaded it himself, to give him time to think. Thicker might help, he considered, but harder seemed more important - if he could do it. He wasn't too worried about making this work eventually as he'd had difficulty making useable steps at first and he had eventually been successful.

He continued working on his defense for another half hour. At the end, the bolts still made it through his shield, but they didn't hit the wall hard enough to knock a chip out any more, so that was progress, he decided.

Harry also wondered if his shield would be stronger if he pulled up sand and rocks into a whirlwind instead of just using compressed air. He'd have to test that idea later.

To end it all, he caused a small cyclone to start. It swirled around the room with Harry walking behind it to stay out of its way. When it had made a full circuit, he stopped it near a corner and all the debris in it fell in a haphazard pile. Using his wand, he vanished the mess.

After a small break, he used the rest of the morning to practice conjuring small blocks of rock. By the time he headed to lunch, he could do it silently.

— — —

As Harry walked out of the Great Hall, Susan looked at his two female friends. "Shall we?"

To the surprise of the other Gryffindors, Hermione and Ginny stood with Susan and the three walked out together.

"Where shall we go?" Hermione asked softly.

Susan was amused and it calmed her slightly to know that Granger seemed as nervous about this as she was. Weasley didn't look to be much better for some reason. "I'm sure we can find a room somewhere."

A few minutes later, they were in an old, empty classroom that was totally without furniture. Susan conjured a simple wooden chair for herself and Hermione conjured one for each of the Gryffindors.

Susan looked at the two of them and decided she should start this; she did ask for it after all. "I thought we should talk since we have a mutual interest, namely Harry." The two Gryfs seemed to bristle slightly.

"First," the Puff told them, "we should be friends. I know that you're his friends and I won't ask him to walk away from you, not that I think he would, even if I were foolish enough to try."

"He wouldn't," Hermione told her with a tinge of hostility.

Susan sighed. "Please, there's no reason to be upset with me. I thought we had been getting along for the last two months."

"Then why are we just now having this talk?" Ginny asked with a disapproving look.

Susan looked down for a moment and decided she was going to have to show trust to them first. "Because I didn't think we needed this, but the other night when Harry disappeared … well, it made me think that we needed to talk. We girls have gotten along, but we could do better. Also, the other night showed me that Harry has some special needs and I want to help him. So who should know better how I can help him than you, either of you," she added not wanting Ginny to feel left out.

Both of the other girls looked at her for a long moment. "What do you know so far?" Hermione asked softly.

A slight smile graced her lips, but inside Susan was very happy to get them to at least go this far. "Harry is smart but he hides it. He likes to be complimented more than the average person because he lights up from any sort of thanks or praise. The night before last, he was torn up about missing his parents. I can understand that, but it seems like there was something more I was missing. There are other interesting things about him, but those three things are the biggest mysteries and I don't quite understand how they all fit together. I think that if I knew, I could help more. Please?" she ended in a slight beg.

The Gryffindors looked at each other for a moment before Hermione looked at her. "If you haven't realized it, Harry is a very private person. There are things he doesn't even tell us, but I can make some good guesses.

"I think it's fair to say that most of what you're unsure about is because of how he was raised. Has he told you anything about that?" Hermione asked, looking like she still wasn't sure about this.

"A little," Susan admitted. "I know he misses his parents and wonders what it would have been like if he was raised by them instead of what happened. I also know he grew up with his aunt and what caused him to leave there at the beginning of the summer, which doesn't make them sound like very nice people at all if they were that way all the time. Considering he didn't volunteer much information, I wasn't sure if I should press him for more."

"That was probably very wise," Hermione told her. "He won't talk about it often, but his relatives don't like him much and I think that's affected him greatly."

Ginny snorted. "Don't think? I know Harry hasn't said it to me, but it's obvious they don't like him; they might even hate him. I'm sure that's affected him."

Hermione glared at the redhead and hissed. "Ginny!"

Susan was surprised that the two didn't seem to see this in a like manner and decided to keep quiet, perhaps getting more info this way.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "What? You know it's true and she might as well know. I know you'd like to help him as much as I would, but the most important thing is that Harry gets help, not who does it."

Susan blinked at that and several things she'd heard over the years suddenly fell into place. "You each like him, don't you?"

Both heads snapped her way, their staring contest broken. Hermione didn't hold the look long and turned away.

The redhead sighed. "Yes and no."

"Ginny!" was hissed again.

"Hermione," Ginny said with resignation as she looked at her friend, "this isn't going to hurt either of us and we need to think of Harry." The girl looked at Susan, "I don't think you can make Harry dislike us, but you could take Harry away more than you have. I will also say that you've been good so far about sharing him as friends."

"I have tried to make sure he doesn't give up any of previous friends," Susan held out before returning them to her question. "How much do you like him? A lot?"

Hermione wouldn't answer, so it was Ginny who eventually said, "If Harry asked either one of us out, we'd say yes in a heartbeat; then again, I think most girls here at school would. However, I believe the two of us would have better motives. Are we each pining for him and putting our life on hold for him? No." She looked more defiant now. "He's our friend and we don't plan to give that up."

"As I said earlier, I wouldn't ask him - or you - to do that." Susan looked at them for a moment. "There's more there though, isn't there?"

"I don't think that's any of your business," Hermione said coolly.

"I can't work with you and help you if I don't know what to do," Susan pointed out.

Neither girl answered that.

Susan had to work to hold her sigh in. She was making progress, but apparently the trust was very limited. "All right, back to helping Harry. So you think these mysteries about Harry are because he grew up with his aunt who doesn't like him. I can see how that would make him miss his parents more than most. I can even see how that might mean he never received compliments as a child and likes them now. But I don't understand why he'd hide his intelligence. To add to the mystery, I've noticed that he's not hiding it any more either."

"That one is a lot harder," Hermione finally said. "I can only guess and I hate guessing."

Susan noticed that the other girl seemed to be working through something. "Ginny?"

After a moment, Ginny sighed. "I would have to guess too, but I think I can give a good clue." At Susan's encouraging look, she told them, "I don't know if you ever heard," she looked at Hermione briefly, "but when my brothers went over to Harry's relatives' house before fourth year, Fred and George played a small prank on Harry's cousin and they said it was dead easy. They said it really wasn't fair because they didn't even have to try … that his cousin seemed really stupid."

"And?" Susan asked.

Ginny shrugged. "As you know, I grew up in a large family. I've found that if you don't want to be noticed, and I think that would describe Harry around his relatives who don't like him, you don't do anything to stick out…"

"And since his cousin is not smart, he's used to hiding his intelligence," Susan finished for her.

"It's my guess," the redhead told her.

"Probably true," Hermione added.

This helped her quite a bit, Susan thought. Maybe one more thing. "Ginny, on the train, you said there was something I needed to do, but you didn't have the time to finish that sentence. What do I need to do for Harry?" She noticed Hermione turning away and looking a little upset.

Ginny noticed too and shook her head slightly. "I think you're doing it already. You just need to be there for him and support him. You can throw him in a deadly situation and somehow he'll come out of it alive and on top. But normal life? That's really hard for Harry, so be there for him and encourage him."

"I can do that." Susan looked at them and smiled, very surprised at how well this had turned out despite the rocky start. She thought Hermione would have been the most helpful and Ginny would have given her a difficult time, but it was the opposite. While she wouldn't ask, Susan thought that maybe Ginny had worked through her feelings for Harry while Hermione had yet to do that.

"Thank you, both of you. You've helped me a lot." Susan stood and the other two did as well. She reached out and put a hand on Ginny's shoulder and smiled.

The redhead surprised her and leaned forward and gave her a hug, one that was real, not just one for show. "Please take good care of our Harry. Of course," she turned impish, "while I don't need a boyfriend right now, if you get tired of him, please let me know. I'd probably change my decision for someone like Harry."

Susan chuckled and nodded. "Sure. Hermione?" Susan reached out to her too and the brunette just looked at her and then forced a smile. "Thank you." The girl only nodded, nothing more. "I'll see you two at lunch. I believe I need to go think about what you've told me."

A few moments later, she was outside in the very cool air and walking around on the grounds. A warming charm helped give her some comfort as she pondered the conversation and her boyfriend.

— — —

Harry slid into the open seat next to Susan at the Hufflepuff table. "Did you enjoy your _girl time_?"

"I did." Susan kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you. How did your morning go?"

"Really well. I think I'm ready to change topics in our study group," he told her as he dished his food onto his plate.

"I have something for you." She reached into a pocket and pulled out a yellow and black scarf. "So you'll fit in."

He grinned and chuckled as he took it and wrapped it around his neck. "So, how do I look?"

"Yummy?" Megan suggested teasingly, earning a glare from Susan and laughter from the rest around them.

"I think Susan would say like he always should have looked," Hannah said with a smile.

"Quite right," the strawberry blonde said. "It really is too bad he wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff."

"Hey, I got here as fast as I could," Harry joked.

After lunch, they all started for the Quidditch stadium. Ron came over to Harry as they walked. "Mate, why do you have one of _their_ scarfs on? You're a Gryffindor and you need to be sitting with us to scout the other teams."

Harry looked at him. There was a touch of displeasure there, but nothing like the anger at the beginning of the year. He had no idea what potion they were giving Ron to reduce his anger tendencies, but it was helping. "I can watch the game from the other stands just fine, Ron, and I promise I will … just like I promised Susan I'd go to the game _with her_."

Ron huffed lightly but walked off.

Susan leaned over to him to keep her comment more private. "I don't know what they're doing to help him, but he's better."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, not wanting to say anything that might embarrass his friend.

In the stands, Harry watched those around him with amusement, though his expression was kept to a polite smile. Sure, there were a few who watched the Hufflepuff/Slytherin game avidly, much like Ron did, but for the most part, it was as Susan had told him before. It seemed most of them kept a casual watch on the game but generally used the time to socialize. He even picked up a few rumors about what was happening at the Ministry, news shared in letters to sons and daughters.

The most interesting thing about the game was that Malfoy was no longer Seeker or even on the team. It was a fifth year boy (he thought) that Harry didn't know.

As he was shaking his head yet again, Susan finally spoke up. "What has you so bothered?"

"The Snitch just showed for the third time and neither Seeker has noticed."

"Maybe it's easier for you here rather than while flying around?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe, I doubt it helps all that much. Oh, finally."

They all watched the two Seekers going for the Snitch. Slytherin was ahead in points, but not far enough to guarantee a win. If the Hufflepuff Seeker got it, they would win.

The younger and lighter Hufflepuff was gaining on the Snitch and starting to pull away from his opponent, but the bigger Slytherin Seeker waited until just the right moment and then elbowed the Puff, causing him to veer to the side and almost lose his balance. That was just enough of a distraction that the Slytherin reached out and grasped the Snitch and ended the game; causing the entire Hufflepuff stands to groan in disappointment.

"That was unfair!" Ernie Macmillan swore. "That was a foul too!"

"Unsporting, definitely," Harry said loud enough for the boy and those around him to hear, "but not a foul."

"But-" Ernie started to protest.

Harry cut him off. "I promise, it's not a foul. _Bumping_ happens and that's what Madam Hooch would tell you. Now, if it had been an elbow to the head, that would have been a foul. I know what the rules say because I've read them very carefully."

Ernie nodded, finally accepting Harry's word, though it was obvious he didn't like it or the outcome of the game.

Harry went with Susan back to their common room. The party was bit subdued, but the Puffs still tried to enjoy themselves, which was better than what the Gryfs would have done with a loss, Harry thought. He also pulled the Seeker to the side and told him good job and gave him a few tips on how to deal with rough play, which the third year boy appreciated.

— — —

Harry walked into the Gryffindor Tower a few minutes before curfew was to start and saw Hermione talking with Ginny, Lavender, and Parvati. "We might as well start our rounds," he told her when he walked over.

Hermione bid the others good-night, as did Harry, and the two walked back out of the Tower for their patrol. As a small group of fourth years hurried in, Harry pulled out his Marauder's map and checked it. There were other groups scurrying to their common room; however, there was a lone figure leaving a common room. He almost sighed and he led his fellow Prefect down a floor to make their way across the castle and he showed her the Map.

"Are you just trying to make his life difficult?" she asked. "I mean, I know that he'll be breaking the rules in," she looked at her watch, "about three minutes, but maybe he just wants a snack before bed."

Harry looked at her. "Are you really going to stick up for Malfoy? The girl who punched him in her third year and then said that felt good?"

Hermione wouldn't look at him. "Different circumstances, Harry," she said simply.

Shaking his head, he considered that she had really been scared before and hadn't completely worked through her fears, but didn't think he should say that. Perhaps a verbal compromise might be useful, he thought. "Well, I won't say that I consider Malfoy evil or anything like that, but I really don't trust him and I think it's reasonable to keep an eye on him."

"I suppose I can see that," she replied, still not looking at him.

"I can also say that I've watched the Map and seen him pull this trick of trying to sneak up to the Room of Requirement just before curfew on a few other evenings we haven't patrolled, so I know he's not innocent." He wondered what she'd say to that.

It took a long moment, but she eventually said, "Is this a game to you, Harry, or what?"

He shrugged. "I suppose that's a good way to look at it. I really don't want any adventures this year, but playing 'annoy Malfoy' is kinda fun. The interesting part is that he can stop the game any time as I'm not going out of my way to do this, but I don't think he'll stop. He's doing something different this year. I'm not going to go out of my way to find out, but annoying him along the way does have entertainment value."

Hermione snorted, but didn't reply back.

They waited at the top of the stairs near the Room of Requirement and watched Malfoy coming up towards them slowly, as if checking to make sure he wasn't watched.

"Time?" Harry asked softly.

"I have four minutes after," she whispered back.

"Good enough," He answered and wiped the Map before putting it up, but keeping his wand out and hidden by his leg.

A moment later, Malfoy hurried around the corner, looking behind him. As he turned, he stopped suddenly as he saw the two Prefects.

"It's after curfew and you're nowhere near the Slytherin common room. What are you doing, Malfoy?" Harry asked calmly.

"None of your business, Potter." Malfoy started for his wand but froze when Harry's wand came up and pointed at him.

" _Accio wand_ ," Harry said quietly and then caught the Slytherin's wand. "Turn around and walk to McGonagall's office."

"I don't have to," the Slytherin sneered.

"No, you don't," Harry agreed as he walked forward and stopped a few steps in front of his nemesis. "However, you also don't have to be conscious to get there. I can stun you if you try to get away. Either way, you're going, so you decide." Harry flicked his wand to indicate Malfoy should move and he did after a moment.

Hermione walked beside Harry as they followed a few steps behind Malfoy, not saying a word although she did have her wand out now.

Arriving at their destination, Hermione knocked and then stepped back.

McGonagall answered her door, her eyes narrowing as she took in the sight. "I think everyone should come in," she said in her no-nonsense way, closing the door after the three. "While I can guess what happened, please tell me, Miss Granger."

Harry found it amusing that once again McGonagall asked Hermione for verification of what had happened. Of course, considering his and Malfoy's dislike of each other was well known, perhaps that was wise of her.

"We found Malfoy on the seventh floor about five minutes after curfew started and brought him here," she said simply.

"I see." The teacher looked at the third. "Mr Malfoy, what were you doing out after curfew?"

"I was stretching my legs because I felt restless," he replied with a straight face.

When he didn't say anything else, McGonagall frowned. "I'm sorry, Mr Malfoy, that is not an acceptable reason. Since I promised you a particular response if this happened again, I'm afraid I must follow through. Please hand me your Prefect badge."

"I don't have it on me," he said with a bit of rebellion.

McGonagall stared at him for a moment, obviously considering her choices. She looked at the two Gryffindors. "Thank you for doing your job. You're dismissed to continue your patrol. I will handle his punishment."

Harry and Hermione wished her good-evening and left.

Outside, Hermione asked, "What do you think will happen?"

Harry considered for a moment. "Other than losing his position and some points, probably not a whole lot. Still, maybe it's a start to cleaning up some things. I suppose we'll see how serious McGonagall is about this by who's picked as his replacement."

"Professor Snape will just pick someone else like him," Hermione said a little bitterly.

"That's assuming Snape is the one who picks and I don't know if that will be true," he theorized. "I guess we'll have to see tomorrow."

— — —

McGonagall looked at the wayward student. "I'm very disappointed in you, Mr Malfoy. You're supposed to be a leader and you're not acting like it. Now that it's just the two of us, would you tell me why you're out at this time of night?"

"I have nothing to say," Malfoy told her, just barely on the side of not being rude.

"Very well, let's go retrieve your badge." McGonagall led him out of her office, seeing her Prefects in the distance before she turned to use a different staircase.

The trip was made in silence, not that that surprised her. At the entrance to the Slytherin common room, she pulled out her wand and cast a message spell. Turning, she opened the door to the Slytherin area and motioned the student through, entering after him and with her wand still out.

Inside, she looked around and saw everyone in the common room staring at her. "Go get your badge, Mr Malfoy," she said quietly. As he left, she raised her voice to carry throughout the room. "I need to see the Prefects please as well as Mr Zabini."

The six rose and slowly walked over. "We need to wait a moment for Professor Snape." They all looked uneasily at each other and the non-Prefect received some glares, but she decided not to correct their guess that he had done something wrong.

A moment later, Draco Malfoy returned and handed her his Prefect badge in a barely civil manner before returning to his dorm room with an angry look.

As Malfoy left the common room, Snape hurried in and immediately walked over to her and the group of Prefects. "You said there was a situation that required immediate attention?"

"I did, Professor. For the second time, Mr Malfoy has been caught out of the Slytherin after curfew in an area he had no business being in and after he was warned not to do it again. As punishment, it will be fifty points from Slytherin for Mr Malfoy's violation of the rules and I hope the rest of you can help keep in him line. In addition," McGonagall held out the Prefect badge, "Mr Malfoy is no longer a Prefect and I request that you, Mr Zabini, take the position for the rest of this year and next." She noticed that Snape looked upset, but he kept quiet.

The young man looked at the badge for a moment before reaching out and taking it slowly. "Thank you, Professor."

"I'm sure that the other Prefects and Professor Snape will help you get started. I'll inform the Head Boy and Girl tomorrow." McGonagall looked at the others. "The rest of you have been doing well, I hope you'll continue instead of following Mr Malfoy's bad example. Good evening and don't stay up too late."

Turning, she walked out of the Slytherin area. McGonagall was not surprised that Snape came after her. "Why are you undermining my authority? It is difficult enough to keep them inline and not turning into Death Eaters as it is and you just made that harder."

She stopped and looked at him, Potter's words coming back to her. "Severus, in my opinion, whatever you've been doing isn't working. I think it's time for a change; it's time for them to see that bad choices lead to bad consequences. It's time to show them that they can't get away with breaking the rules with impunity. Perhaps you should use your authority to make sure they understand that."

"The Headmaster will not be pleased with this," he said in thinly veiled threat.

"If the Headmaster would like to argue in front of the school's board of governors that Prefects should be allowed to break the rules they are supposed to be upholding, he can certainly do that - although he may find that creates more problems than he desires.

"To the root of the problem, the school policies are very clear that a Prefect can lose his position for breaking the rules multiple times. None of the rest of the Prefects have this problem, so I suggest you have a conversation with Mr Malfoy and explain to him that the rule of not being out after curfew exists for a reason and if he continues in his action of ignoring said rule, he will find himself in many detentions and possibly even expelled.

"Good-night, Severus." She turned and strode back to her quarters. She would have to have a conversation with Filius and Pomona about this tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Harry nudged Hermione - who was sitting next to him - and nodded to a group of Slytherins walking in. "Looks like Zabini got picked for the replacement. I bet that causes a shift in their house."

"Assuming he's really a neutral," she commented with a touch of bitterness.

— — —

Nymphadora Tonks entered the little house without effort, since she was keyed into the wards that kept everyone else but her and the owner out. As she was about to shout his name to find him, she saw her boyfriend sitting at the dining table and looking distressed. She strongly suspected the open letter on the table was the cause.

"What's wrong, Remus?" she asked in concern.

The usually fun-loving man looked up at her with an expression to make her think someone had just died. After a moment, he finally said, "I received a letter from Harry."

She frowned, aware of the "discussion" he and Harry had had two months ago. "What's he done now?" She really wasn't very pleased with the boy for what he had said to Remus.

"He's offered me a chance," he said morosely.

That caused Tonks to blink slowly in surprise. "About time, but why the long face?"

"I've screwed up so badly," he told her as he nudged the letter to her.

She picked it up and began reading. At the end, she dropped the letter on the table and glared at him. "Is what he says true? Have you really not reached out to him since your last conversation? You said you were going to." At his non-answer, her ire shifted. "Remus, why did you give him more fuel for the fire? I know he was a bit of an immature prat considering what he said to you on the train, but why did you have to go and prove him correct?"

"I deserve it," he said finally.

"Oh, cut the crap, Remus," she told him harshly, causing him to look at her. "Yes, you made a mistake years ago by not contacting him sooner. He made a mistake by running away this last summer, even if he doesn't call it that. You've both made mistakes. Now be a man about it, admit, and write him back. His letter made it clear he's still willing."

"I … well, I guess you have a point," he said lamely.

Tonks rolled her eyes at him before moving to get writing materials and placing them in front of her boyfriend. Remus took the hint and started writing while Tonks considered how to break his attitude about feeling like the "poor pitiful werewolf" when she knew he was so much more.

* * *

Tuesday evening, Harry gave Susan a kiss and a promise to see her later before leaving a little early for his Runes class. As he walked, he considered the letter that he'd received from Remus this morning. It seemed like they could be friends now; he'd wondered if Remus didn't want to be when he hadn't heard from the man after their discussion on the train.

Walking into the room, he saw that, for once, he was the first person there. A few minutes later, the person he was waiting for entered and took his usual seat at the table next to Harry. "Good evening."

"Potter," the Slytherin returned with a nod of acknowledgement - just like usual.

"How's your new position going?" asked Harry. "That was a bit of surprise to the rest of us."

"It was a bit of surprise for me too." He looked at Harry for a moment before he answered, "It's fine so far."

"That's good. I hope Malfoy doesn't give you any trouble for it."

Zabini looked at him for another moment as if trying to decide how to reply. "I don't think he will. After he cooled down, he seemed rather glad not to have to do it anymore."

"Interesting," Harry said thoughtfully as he considered that. "Do you think I'll still have to watch for him sneaking around after hours?"

As the others started coming in, Zabini only said, "Possibly," ending the conversation there.

Harry had hoped to get something more definitive, but he supposed that would have to do and that he would get to continue playing "cat-n-mouse" with Malfoy. This wasn't an "adventure", for which he was glad, but more like something at the level of a prank … just some fun at Malfoy's expense.

* * *

Thursday the Defense Study Group met in the Room of Requirement. Harry saw each had a comfortable chair as he looked around the room. "The last few weeks we've been looking at shields, not only the standard shield we learned in fourth year, but the NEWT level Fortis Ageis. All of you can cast it, but a few of you need more practice in order to cast it faster and I'll let you do it on your own time.

"Last week, I showed you how to bat spells away, basically a very small localized shield, almost like catching the spell to deflect it away. It's hard to do at first, but fast and useful for all individual spells - except for the Unforgivables - if you can do it. And that takes me to our lessons for the rest of this term: dealing with the Unforgivables."

Harry looked around and saw that most didn't look happy. "I know this isn't a fun topic, but Death Eaters like throwing these around, so we might as well understand how to deal with them practically. So, let's name the ways to deal with them. Who wants to start?"

"Err, dodge," Ginny said hesitantly.

"Correct," Harry told her with a small smile of encouragement. "You just have to be far enough away to have the time to do that. What else?"

"Block it," Hermione said.

Harry grinned and teased her. "That's a bit vague for you, Hermione. How would you block?"

She glared at him for a moment before she said, "You can summon or levitate something sturdy in the curse's path, or you can conjure something solid enough to block it."

Harry nodded at her. "Very good, that's two more ways. If you're going to use an existing item, you do need to be sure the item is substantial enough to block it if it's the Killing Curse, just as she said. The Imperious and the Cruciatus don't need as much when blocking, but you need more than a piece of parchment too. My favorite item would be a Death Eater, as then you can let the Death Eaters kill their friends for you."

"Good one," Ron commented with a grin and Neville nodded thoughtfully; the girls didn't look like they agreed so much.

"That's not very nice," Hannah said, "but I can see your point."

"You're right, Hannah, it's not nice, it's war," Harry said matter-of-factly. "There's another way to block a spell, even though none of us have the chance, that is have an adult Phoenix intercept the curse. Dumbledore did that last year."

Megan snorted, "Yeah, that's so not going to happen."

"Technically, there is yet another way to block a spell, for a loose definition of 'block'. It saved my life at the end of my fourth year against Voldemort; and Hermione has experience with it when I did it the first time earlier that year," Harry said and looked at her.

As Hermione shook her head in denial of remembering, it was Neville that answered. "Hit it with another spell straight-on."

"Correct," Harry said with admiration at the guess. "Malfoy and I did it outside of Potions in our fourth year. Later at the end of fourth year, I stopped Voldemort's Killing Curse by hitting it head on with a Disarming spell. It's really almost more luck than anything, but it is a way.

"There is one last way that I'm aware of." Harry looked around. "Anyone?"

When no one answered, Harry said, "Amazingly, it is a magical shield spell called 'The First Defense'. The trigger words are 'Imprimis Patrocinor'. It creates a small metal shield on your arm that you can use to block spells, including the Unforgivables."

"That's not a shield spell," Hermione argued. "That's conjuring."

Harry shrugged. "The Defense book I got it from said it's really a shield spell, although I really don't care how it's classified." Harry concentrated and cast, " _Imprimis_ _Patrocinor!_ " A light green shield about the size of a Quaffle appeared on Harry's arm and he showed it to them. A tap of his wand on it gave a sound that indicated that it was metal. "Its duration is dependent on what hits it; for most, it won't last for more than one Unforgivable." He looked at Hermione. "I believe that's why it's considered a shield spell and not conjuring, but you can call it conjuring if that would make you happy.

"So, for the five or six lessons we have before Christmas break, we'll work on these methods starting with using existing things to block. Everyone pick a partner and let one of you use things lying around the room and the other fire Stinging hexes at the defender." Harry stood and the others followed. It was harder to make the item intercept the spell with the right timing than they first thought, but they all practiced.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were walking around on patrol again. As usual, Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map when they started. He noticed the name of Draco Malfoy on the sixth floor and then on the stairs to the seventh floor. Harry led them that direction even though he knew they would be too late to intercept the Slytherin. He disappeared off the map before they were halfway there.

Once they were in front of the door to the Room of Requirement, Harry tried to make the door appear but it wouldn't. "I wonder what he's doing in there for so many evenings and by himself."

Hermione gave him a look like he was being dense. "Harry, weren't you the one who told me you didn't want to have any 'adventures' this year?"

"I did," he agreed with a sigh. "But I'm finding that I like the 'bother Malfoy' game. On an adventure I have to win or someone gets hurt. A game is something you play and if you lose it's no big deal … like trolls versus chess to make the distinction more obvious."

He looked at the wall one more time before turning and walking away. "Are you signed up for the Apparation class starting in a couple of weeks?"

"I am. Too bad your birthday isn't until next year so you can't join me," she told him. "When is Susan's birthday?"

"The second of December," he said with a smile.

Hermione looked at him wearily because of his expression. "Harry, are you plotting something?" she asked with a hint of demand in her voice.

"It's better if you don't ask," he told her with a grin.

She shook her head in consternation but did as he requested.

* * *

The last Saturday in November an hour after lunch, Harry walked with Susan to the Great Hall. They walked in when the class on Apparation was to start, so everyone else who was signed up was already there.

McGonagall was at the door with a list. "Miss Bones," she intoned as she checked the name off. She gave her student a piercing look. "Mr Potter, your class won't be until next term."

"Professor," he said quietly. "Considering I have a Dark Wizard out to get me, don't you think it would be a good idea for me to take this now, before the holidays? That way if I get kidnapped again, like I was at the end of my fourth year, I can escape."

Her mouth twitched for a moment before she looked around. "We do have the space." She hesitated a moment more before she pointed at two spots in the back. "Please don't bandy this about."

"Thank you, Professor!" he told her heartily as he did his best to also keep his voice down. He escorted his girlfriend to the place indicated on the back row.

"I can't believe you just talked her into this," Susan said in a whisper.

Harry just smiled at her as the class started.

A man from the Ministry started a short lecture on how to Apparate as McGonagall moved a few students further apart and put a hoop on the floor about a meter in front of each of them.

Like everyone else after the lecture was completed, Harry stood there and looked at his hoop while thinking: Destination, Determination, Deliberation. A few minutes of that didn't seem to work.

As he saw Susan blink in place out of the corner of his eye, he thought back to his childhood when he had sent himself to the roof of his school to get away from Dudley. He now knew to call that Apparation and he thought back to remember what it had felt like.

Ready to try again, he gathered his magic. Just as he was about to make his attempt, a crack sounded from next to him, forcing him to look up and see Susan had moved. She also screamed as she looked down and started to fall.

Without any thought, Harry rushed to her and caught her, ignoring the strange feeling he experienced in trying to get to her before she fell over. Holding her safely in his arms, he lowered her to the floor and cradled her in his arms and lap. As she continued to scream, he looked down and realized why: she was missing her left leg from the knee down.

A soft white spell hit her and she stopped screaming and only whimpered. "There, there, Miss Bones, we'll have you fixed in a trice," McGonagall told her as she knelt in front of the girl with Susan's missing knee, calve, and foot with her shoe still on it.

To Harry, the bizarre thing was that it wasn't bleeding. There appeared to be a shiny film over the end to prevent bleeding, but he could still see bones and muscles on the end. It was sickening and interesting at the same time.

McGonagall lifted Susan's skirt just enough to see the end of her leg and put the missing part in place before she murmured a spell as she wove her wand over the break. The Splinched part reattached itself and the "cut" in the skin came together to leave a thin pink line that started to disappear slowly. "There, as good as new and you'll never be able to tell it happened in a few minutes."

Susan's tears of fright turned into tears of joy as she buried her face in Harry's chest.

"As you can see," the Ministry man said calmly as he addressed the class, "Splinching is not a big problem as the missing part can be reattached with a single spell. You should also remember that it can be helpful to cast a Calming charm on the victim until the attachment is complete. We'll discuss the reattachment spell during your third lesson."

Harry looked down at Susan's leg, as McGonagall was doing. "Look Susan, it's healed now."

Susan slowly and fearfully looked down at her leg and even the pink line was gone now. She touched it and found it whole. She smiled as she wiggled her foot. "I'm fixed."

McGonagall pulled her skirt down the few inches she'd had to raise it. "I know it may be a little difficult, but please release Mr Potter and stand so you can try again."

Susan took a deep breath before nodding and slowing following instructions. Harry helped her up and back to her original place. Everyone was still staring at them.

"While she tries again," the man's voice startled Harry as he was right behind him, "please return to your place Mr Potter and do it again."

Harry looked at him, not quite sure what he was talking about. "Do what again?"

"Apparate, Mr Potter. You Apparated to Miss Bones' location. If you're wondering, it's not uncommon for someone to Apparate short distances in an emergency and not realize it. Go ahead," the man encouraged him while McGonagall was next to Susan.

Harry took a deep breath and looked around. Most were back to thinking about the lesson, but a few - like Hermione - were watching him. Harry focused on the hoop and pulled up his magic before willing himself to his destination.

Suddenly, Harry was standing in his hoop and a crack was echoing around the Great Hall. "I did it," Harry breathed in joy. He noticed that Susan was looking at him with hopefulness while Hermione was looking at him in surprise.

"Excellent, Mr Potter. Back to your spot to make sure you have it down, then Apparate to the front of the room." He turned and slowly made his way to the front, checking on the others as he went.

Harry looked at Susan, who smiled at him. Instead of going to his spot, he Apparated to her, kissed her on the cheek, and then sent himself to the front of the room where the man had given the lecture. It wasn't so hard, he thought.

The man arrived and gave him a small smile. "There is usually one person every year for whom this comes easily. It appears you're that person this year. Go to the door and try to slow everything down; that will decrease the noise." He left with a faint double-crack and was now standing next to the doors.

Looking, Harry fixed the place in his mind and joined the man. The echo from his travel being a little quieter than his first time.

"Professor, do you think you'll need me for the next half hour?"

"No, Mr Dewey," she said with a hint of pride at Harry's accomplishment.

"Very well, come, Mr Potter. We must go outside for longer distances…"

— — —

When Harry returned to the Great Hall nearly forty-five minutes later, he was very surprised by what had happened today and was still trying to take it all in. Everyone turned and looked at him as he and the instructor returned. With a grin, he retook his spot next to Susan. "How are you doing?" he asked before she could.

"About the same. Where did you go?" she asked.

"Err, Mr Dewey and I went to Hogsmeade and a few other places," he told her sheepishly. "I'll explain more when we're out of here."

Susan gave him a thoughtful look before nodding.

The session ended a few minutes later and Harry was the only one to have fully Apparated. As the pair left, Hermione tagged along, which didn't surprise Harry. Hannah joining them a moment later, as she had been waiting outside the Great Hall, had him sighing as he pulled the three girls into a room and closed the door.

Turning to them, he heard Susan whispering to Hannah about Harry leaving with the instructor.

"This has to remain secret, no telling anyone, promise?" He looked at each and received a nod. Hermione looked she was going to protest, but had eventually agreed as well.

"Mr Dewey, the instructor," he added for Hannah's benefit since she hadn't been there, "said that there is usually one person every year that learns Apparation very easily." He shrugged not really wanting to say more about himself. "So he took me to Hogsmeade and we Apparated around a few times before going to Diagon Alley and then coming back. Then he had me Side-Along Apparate him back to the gates of the school."

Hermione's eyes went wide.

A little hesitantly, he pulled out a card and showed it to them. "He gave me this on the way back."

"You already have your full Apparation License?" Hermione almost shrieked before her eyes narrowed. "How? You're not seventeen yet?"

Harry put the card up. "He said there's a loophole in the law that would apply to me that almost no one knows about that would let me have it now … something about being the last of my house and sixteen. He also said he told me because my grandfather once helped him out,." He smiled to himself a little wistfully. "I think that's the first time I've ever met anyone willing to tell me a little something about my grandparents."

Susan reached over and gave him a hug while the other two girls looked down for a moment and then away. "I'm glad that worked out for you."

"Me too," he agreed readily. "It will help with my Christmas plans."

"Oh?" Susan asked.

Now he smirked at her. "It's a surprise." He squeezed her waist briefly before he let her go.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore walked out of the Great Hall after a dinner he barely remembered, as he had many things on his mind. One of them was the young man he had just walked past, a Gryffindor sitting at the Hufflepuff table.

While he was pleased to see some cross-house friendships, the lack of cooperation from the young man was troubling.

"Headmaster, a moment of your time if I may?"

Albus felt a small jolt of hope as he stopped in the corridor and turned, waiting on the young man he had just been thinking about to catch up. "Mr Potter, how are you this evening?"

"I'm doing well, thank you," Harry said politely. "I was hoping to get a certain phrase from you on parchment before the holidays. I'd like to take someone to the house my godfather gave me and I think it'd be wiser if the _charms_ that are there remain, as I'm sure you can understand."

He didn't think anyone was near them, but Albus checked anyway and found no one. Still, this was a conversation he'd prefer to have in his office so he resumed walking and led them that way. "I appreciate your caution, Mr Potter," he reminded himself to use that form address so as not to antagonize him unnecessarily. "Since you plan to have a visitor there, have you changed you mind on allowing other visitors?"

"No, Professor, I haven't since all of you are still adults and I don't trust some of the group to not take things or damage the place. I could name two individuals if you like." Harry gave him a pointed look.

Albus had no desire to challenge him on that point, although he still thought Harry was overreacting. "I was simply curious if time had changed your mind." He kept the frustration out of his voice. They neared the stairs to his office, so he said, "I think we should finish this conversation with a bit more privacy. If you'll follow me please?" He was pleased Harry didn't object.

Inside, he took his customary seat behind his desk and picked up a quill, but held it for a moment. "If I give you the secret phrase you desire, would you be willing do a favor for me?"

"It depends on the favor, Professor. If it's the same request as last time, no thank you," Harry replied calmly and not smiling. "As I said before, if you think some history is so important, then you should have had Binns teach it to everyone."

"And if I refuse to give you the phrase?" he asked lightly, wondering what Harry would say.

"Then I'll take my guest anyway. I'm quite sure I can take anyone in by holding their hand. They might be a bit disoriented for a moment," he said with a shrug as if it didn't matter to him, "but I'm sure that I can do that … whether it's the guest I'm planning or a curse breaker to take the Fidelius Charm down and put a new one up. I think it would be easier and less expensive to use the existing one since I can already keep the Order of the Phoenix out."

Albus had hoped Harry hadn't considered that, but it seemed he had. Grabbing a piece of parchment, he wrote the secret down and handed it over. He knew when he was boxed into a corner and this wasn't that important of a battle. It was better for the young man to be safe.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said as he slipped it into an inner pocket and stood. "I promise to keep it safe."

"I am merely concerned about your safety."

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly and his toned turned frosty. "You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means."

As the young man walked out of his office, Albus sighed. Harry had changed greatly, mostly because of the death of his godfather, or so it seemed. That was an event Albus wished he could change because it put the Wizarding World at risk if Harry didn't take the prophecy seriously. Albus knew he would never use the Imperius or any controlling potions on the lad, but he wondered if there was any argument he could use to change the boy's mind or if he - Albus - had lost all influence.

* * *

(A/N: To the best of my knowledge, the "Imprimis Patrocinor" spell comes from Lord Dwar, or at least his story is where I encountered it. Of course, he just gave a name to the spell used towards the end of book 5.

Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	8. Surprises and Secrets

(A/N: Sorry for the late update this weekend; it's been a busy one for me. As I understand the books, there were 3 Bones in the generation before Susan: Amelia, Edgar, and Susan's unnamed father. The books don't indicate either way if Susan's parents are still alive or not. While many stories featuring Susan have her an orphan and being raised by her aunt Amelia, in this story Susan has a family.)

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Surprises and Secrets**

Harry led the large group onto the train to head home for Christmas. Heading towards a private cabin at the end of the train, he inscribed a specific rune in each corner, runes that he'd looked up just for this purpose. Applying power to them, he watched with satisfaction as the cabin doubled in length. He beckoned to his friends to come into the cabin.

Hermione was the first to speak as they all gawked. "Well done, Harry. I'm impressed you were able to make it this big with the simple size adjustment runes we looked up. I would have expected you to have to use the more complicated area expansion runes to do this, which we haven't learned yet."

"I, uh, I just pushed a lot of power into it," he told her as he looked at the two cushioned benches. A wave of his wand and murmured spell conjured a bench along the stretched wall with the windows; he also conjured a cushion for it. To make it easier on them all, he also conjured a table so they now had a U-shaped arrangement with the table in the middle.

They all spread out and made themselves comfortable. Harry noted that the Hufflepuff girls took one bench with Susan in the corner next to him as he sat in front of a window. Hermione and Ginny sat next to him. Luna, Neville, and then Ron took the bench on the other side.

"This really is nice," Ron told him as he settled in. "I'm going to take a nap, but I'll play chess with anyone who wants to when I wake up." He leaned against the corner and closed his eyes; Harry put a silencing charm around him so he wouldn't be disturbed by any noise the rest of them made.

Hermione smiled at him for his thoughtfulness, even if she still didn't get along with Ron very well at the moment. "What are you going to do for Christmas, Harry?"

Harry grabbed Susan's hand and smiled a little nervously. "I'm going to meet Susan's family."

Hannah chuckled. "Good luck with that," she said sarcastically.

"Oh shush," Susan admonished her friend. "They'll like you," she reassured her boyfriend.

"But it is a big step," Ginny added with a smirk. "I guess you two are serious?"

The rest looked at Harry, who turned a little pink from all the attention, his new confidence failing him at the moment. "Well, we've had all term together. That's serious enough that I'd like to meet her family," Harry said quietly.

Hermione snorted. "Harry, I think you're to be congratulated for lasting longer than one outing to Madame Puddifoot's." The others laughed at Harry's expense causing him to become more reserved.

Susan rescued him. "Harry has a point. We have dated all term and are doing well, or so I think." She gave him a look to try to get him to answer.

"I think so too," Harry answered after a moment before looking over at Ginny, Luna, and Hermione. "So yeah, I guess we are serious." He was pleased he'd said that when he saw Susan beaming. The other three Hufflepuffs seemed to be enjoying the topic as well, almost as if they were living the happiness through Susan.

They talked for the rest of the trip about Christmas plans. Ron didn't wake up until they'd arrived at the station, despite the rest of the group playing a loud game of Exploding Snap. Harry thought he might have seen Ginny cast a silent spell at her brother, he'd guess a sleeping spell, but he wasn't sure.

As they left their cabin, Harry vanished the conjured furnishings and as the last one out returned the cabin to its normal size. He thought he'd be doing that again in the future. Not able to procrastinate any longer, he left the cabin and Susan grabbed his hand and led him out of the train.

"Don't worry," she told him quietly as they exited and before they told their friends "Happy Christmas!" as the group left.

She led him over to a couple that looked somewhere in their mid to late forties. They were the lucky ones, he knew. Susan's Uncle Edgar and his family had been killed by Death Eaters in the first war with Voldemort, and then her Aunt Amelia had been killed last summer.

"Mum, Dad!" Susan let go of his hand and gave her parents a hug. When she stepped back, she smiled at him and said, "I'd like you meet my boyfriend, Harry."

"Vincent Bones," the man said as he stuck out his hand and seemed to evaluate Harry very neutrally. The resemblance between him and Susan was strong.

"Harry Potter; it's good to meet you, sir." He shook the hand and was glad his voice had not exhibited his nervous feelings. When they disengaged, he turned to the woman who only vaguely looked like Susan, except for her hair, which was a dark red. "Mrs Bones."

She smiled cordially. "Please call me Pat, or Patricia if you must."

Harry took her proffered hand and bowed, giving it an "air kiss". Neville had explained proper greetings and a few other social graces in the Wizarding World when Harry had begged him to after he had learned he'd be meeting Susan's parents over the holidays.

"Thank you for having me over," he told them.

"How could we not," Pat Bones told him. "We've been wanting to meet you as much as Susan has wanted to bring you home."

"Mum!" Susan almost growled in a low voice.

"Oh hush, darling, you know it's true. Well, let's all get going shall we? I'll take Susan," the mother said with a mischievous smile. She grabbed her daughter's hand and they disappeared with a crack.

"Ready?" Vincent asked as he grabbed Harry's arm without waiting for any reply.

Harry held his bag tightly and tried to relax. As he was Side-Along Apparated, he wished it was he who was leading them. This was uncomfortable now that he could Apparate on his own, but he couldn't do it yet because he didn't know where the Bones' house was located.

They appeared a moment later in the foyer of what looked like a modest yet nice house. "Welcome to our house," Vincent said as he let go of Harry.

Harry felt Susan put her arm around his waist, which he appreciated for the moral support. As they walked into the family room, Harry could see that it wasn't a large house, but it wasn't small either, easily being larger than the Dursleys'. The key observation to him was that it looked like family lived here; the rich wood walls and decor looked comfortable, warm, and friendly.

"If you'll follow me," Pat told him and led him down a hall. "We're all at the end, but you can have the front guest room. The bathroom is across the hallway."

Harry entered a room decorated in warm yellows; he supposed that was mostly neutral but suspected Susan would have been more comfortable in it. Still, he was a guest and he'd be grateful for it. "Thank you, it's very nice and I'll be fine here." He dropped his bag and followed them back to the family room and then the dining room where he saw a large wooden dining set that had intricate carvings.

"Have a seat," Vincent told him as he gestured to a chair and the man took the chair at the head of the table. "We can get to know one another as we have dinner."

The time wasn't as bad as Harry had first imagined, but the back of his shirt was a little damp by the end of dinner.

At the end of the evening, Susan walked him to his room and stepped just inside the doorway, although with the door open wide. She put her arms around his neck and they kissed softly. "Pleasant dreams, Harry."

"You make them pleasant; good night, Susan."

She chuckled quietly. "You're lines are still atrocious, but I like you anyway." She kissed him quickly one more time and then left for her own room.

Harry closed the door and went to bed. It was comfortable and he felt welcomed considering he had met his girlfriend's parents for the first time. He was really looking forward to the holidays.

* * *

Harry woke the next morning; feeling refreshed, got dressed in a smart set of clothes, and went to find everyone. What he found was his girlfriend looking embarrassed and her mother with a teasing look.

When her mother saw him, she smiled more. "Good morning, Harry. Come join us for breakfast. The sticky buns should still be warm."

He joined them and found it interesting that this was the most casual he'd ever seen Susan. She was in her dressing gown and her hair had had only the barest attention paid to it. She also wore no makeup, although she normally only wore a very small amount anyway.

"Does she pass inspection in her more natural state or shall we throw her back and find another girl for you?" the mother teased.

"Mum!" Susan protested, scandalized.

Harry wondered if he was about to go too far, but he knew Susan liked to tease and joke and it seemed like her mother was the same way. "Err, so far so good, but shouldn't I wait until I've seen her fully natural before I give my final answer?"

Susan's eyes almost bugged out as she looked over her cup of tea. Laughter suddenly blasted out of her mother and the woman doubled over for a moment. When she straightened back up, she had a tear of mirth while her daughter was beet red.

"Oh, I like him; he'll be able to handle you just fine," her mother choked out as she pulled her laughter under control.

"Mum!" Susan admonished as she somewhat hid her face behind her tea cup and hurriedly changed the topic. "Did you have anything special you needed to do today, Harry?"

He gave her a small smile as he relented. "Actually, I hope you don't mind, but I need to leave for a few hours so I can do my Christmas shopping."

"Where did you plan to go?" Susan asked innocently.

Harry didn't fall for it and wouldn't name a store. "I was thinking about Dewiniaeth Stryd, in Wales. I only recently learned about it and wanted to go see what it was like."

"You'll love it," Pat told him with fond look. "It's not as big as Hogsmeade or even Diagon Alley, but I like it more than the other two. I think you'll see what I mean when you go there."

"All right. Err, do they have a Gringotts there? Or should I go to Diagon Alley first for money?" he asked. "Oh, and do they have any Muggle shops outside the entrance if I need them?"

"The Goblins have a small branch there. There's a small fee, but it's not enough to matter," the woman answered. "As for Muggle shops, yes, there are some not too far away, but you should ask for directions so you don't get lost."

"Thank you, that helps." As he finished his breakfast, he decided to ask about one thing he had noticed. "I see a little snow on most of the back garden, but why does your back patio look like … well, Spring?"

"Susan can take you out there to see it, but the garden and its perpetual care is Vince's hobby. It's perhaps one of the few things he does to show off his skills with a wand. The rest of the time," Pat shrugged, "only a few people really see how good he is with magic."

"Yes, Susan told me he works at St Mungo's, but I thought she said he was an administrator," Harry half-said half-asked.

"He is now, but he still helps the healers from time to him since that was his original position there. But enough about my husband." Pat shooed him away with a wave of her hand. "Go enjoy your shopping. Susan and I have a little shopping to do too, but we'll probably be back before you will. Vince added you to the Floo connection so you can go and return that way."

"Right, I think it'll be several hours," he replied as he stood.

"Don't worry about it," Pat told him, smiling as she saw Susan rise hastily and grab his arm to stop him so she could give him a hug.

Harry returned to his room and retrieved a long cloak that he charmed a dark blue for something different. With his money bag and vault key in hand, he was ready to go.

At the house Floo connection, he threw in some Floo Power and announced, "Dewiniaeth Stryd". He stepped into the green flames and came out a moment later into a pub that definitely wasn't the Leaky Cauldron; it was too clean and new looking.

He nodded to the proprietor and received a nod back. "Excuse me, but how do I get to the shopping area. It's my first time here."

The middle-aged man gave him a warm smile. "Welcome to the Mad Welsh, tavern extraordinaire and entrance to Dewiniaeth Stryd. Just go thru that door over there. It'll only open for Magicals or Squibs. Come back later for a drink or lunch."

Harry saw the non-descript wide door the man pointed to. "Thank you, I'll definitely be back."

Going thru the door, he found a place every bit as enchanting as he'd found Diagon Alley the first time he'd gone there with Hagrid. This place had indications from signs that it was as old or older than Diagon Alley, but it was cleaner and it had an atmosphere of … magical delight, he decided as he walked around. The delightful look was helped by the Christmas decorations that were up. It was like everything he thought the magical world should have been but rarely was.

He saw many of the same kinds of shops as in Diagon Alley, but they were smaller, yet looked like they had everything needed. He saw a jewelry shop and headed that direction. A home goods shop was next. He figured the Mad Welsh would even have his present for Vincent, based on what Harry had seen in the man's home.

Those stops used up what money he'd already had on hand, so he headed to Gringotts. It was a small building, but also in the white marble like the main Gringotts in Diagon Alley. The line was short and he was quickly helped; the goblin verifying his account with his key and then going to a back room to record the transaction and bring out the money he'd requested.

It wasn't until he was nearly done shopping that he'd realized that part of what he liked most was that no one had pointed at him or anything else as The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Back in the pub he'd arrived in, Harry bought another present and had a Butterbeer and lunch of a roast sandwich and a small bowl of stew. He also found directions to the Muggle shopping area in Cardiff for his last set of presents.

Two hours later, and after nearly five hours total, Harry returned to the Bones' home. He was almost immediately besieged by his girlfriend who seemed to be trying to pat him down. He immediately grabbed her hands and held her arms wide so she couldn't touch him.

"No fair," she pouted mockingly.

"You'll find out what I bought for you soon enough." He kissed her quickly and then ran for his room to put his shrunken presents in there.

They spent the rest of the day talking and joking around, usually with her mother within earshot.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve and Susan walked into the living room, dressed nicely as requested and with a long cloak. She raised her eyebrow and looked at Harry, who was also dressed more smartly than normal, and holding a small bag made of red velvet with a miniature rope drawstring. "Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

He noticed Pat and Vincent watching them from the couch.

"Part of your Christmas present is that I'm going to show you a few things I've kept from you until now, starting with where I stayed this summer," he told her. Her breath hitched slightly. "While you can tell your parents, you must keep all of this confidential, even from your friends."

He gave her parents a look and they nodded in understanding. "I can Apparate out from the foyer?" he asked them.

"You may," Vincent told him. "You really do have your Apparation License?"

Harry reached into a pocket with his hand, but the man stopped him. "Your word is good enough, Harry; I was merely surprised. Enjoy your evening and I look forward to hearing about it later."

Harry nodded and then turned to his girlfriend. "Since you don't have a purse, would you be willing to carry this as one?" He held out the velvet bag to her that he hoped looked like a slightly oversize handbag.

"What is it?"

"A few presents for some people we're about to meet." After he handed it to her, he pulled out his wand and cast a spell on it with a murmur. "And with a Muggle-Notice-Me-Not, they shouldn't pay it any attention." As he put his wand back up, he added, "Since we will be around Muggles, I hope it's obvious that you don't pull out your wand unless Death Eaters show up, and I'd be very surprised if that happened."

She nodded as he escorted her to the foyer. "Of course."

"Oh, I almost forgot." He pulled his wand back out and transfigured both of their cloaks into long Muggle style coats. Wand away, he put his hands on her upper arms and Apparated them.

— — —

Upon landing, Susan looked around and saw a number of older buildings with car sounds in the distance. One direction showed her a skyline that she thought she recognized. "So, London?"

"Yep," he replied, his breath showing in the cold air as hers had.

"Anything else I need to know before we get there, other than you have an ex-girlfriend here?" she asked, trying to ignore a twinge of jealousy.

As they turned a corner, Harry gestured at a medium-sized building ahead. "I stayed at an orphanage run by a church; we'll stop by there for a few minutes after the church service. The presents are for the orphans."

"We're going to church? I didn't know you were raised that way." She had to admit she was very surprised as Harry had never mentioned church before.

"Yes, I thought we'd go to a Christmas Eve service." He stopped for a moment so she had to as well. "I'm sorry, I didn't think to ask. Is that all right with you?"

"I, err, I guess so." Honestly, she wasn't sure what to think. "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing," he said with a grin and turned and started walking again. "Just follow along and enjoy it."

"Why do you go? Were you raised this way?" She sort of hoped she didn't have to do this all the time; the Bones family didn't do church.

Harry snorted. "The Dursleys take me to church? That would have meant that hell had indeed frozen over. No, I had to go most of the time this summer because I stayed at the orphanage. I found I kind of liked it. It made me feel, I don't know, sort of peaceful. Mostly, I just like the music, especially the organ."

"All right." That didn't sound so bad, she thought as they walked up to the doors and entered. They took their coats off and slung them over their arms before entering the sanctuary. Harry took them to some seats about half way up on the left.

She had to admit, after they finished the singing, that the music was pleasant enough. She also knew some of the songs as they had been Christmas carols. The message delivered by Curate Riley was mercifully short and didn't mean much to her.

When the service ended, Harry moved slowly to the exit and then pulled them into an empty back row waiting as others passed them.

"What are we waiting for?" she asked quietly.

"I want to be one of the last ones to leave so I can have a conversation with the Curate with no one to rush us," he replied as he put on his coat and she followed his lead.

As the church emptied, Harry took her "handbag", closed his eyes and concentrated. It suddenly became larger and obviously heavier as it shifted down on the seat cushion. Her eyes went wide and she gave a strangled whisper, "Harry!"

"Shush," he told her very softly as he took the rope on the top of the bag that was now resting on the church pew in front of them and wound it around his left hand. "Now is the best time for this and no one was looking."

"But you just did wandless … you know," she said, looking around and finding the few people left not paying attention to them, thankfully.

"The _Finite_ is about the only thing I can do that way, so no big deal," he told her as he picked up the bag and pulled her to the end of the now short line of people leaving. The young pastor had been greeting those who didn't rush past him, wishing each a "Happy Christmas".

When they reached him, Harry stuck out his hand and said, "Happy Christmas; remember me?"

"Harry, of course I remember you. It's so good to see you since I thought I never would again. How are you?" The man's greeting was warm and he sounded and looked genuinely interested in Harry.

"I've been doing well. This is my girlfriend, Susan."

When he reached out, she held out a hand and the Curate took it in both of his and clasped it gently. "Miss Susan, I'm glad you could join us. I assume you've been watching over Mr Potter and keeping him out of trouble?" he asked jovially, almost like Professor Flitwick might have done.

"I try," she answered politely, not sure what to say.

"Curate Riley," Harry spoke up quickly, "we were about head to the orphanage to say hello and drop a few things off." He indicated the bag that was resting at his left side. "Could you join us for a few minutes?"

"Harry, you didn't have to do that," the man admonished him gently.

"But I did. Can you join us?" Harry repeated in an urgent tone that said he wanted a "yes".

The pastor looked at him for a moment and then shook his head ruefully and smiled. "You have a good heart, lad. I'll be over in about ten minutes if you can wait that long."

"That'll be fine, we'll see you there," Harry told him and picked up the bag, leading her out as she held onto his right arm.

"You really are full of surprises tonight," she told him as they exited the church and he guided them down the sidewalk.

He chuckled quietly. "I'm just getting started. By the way, if you didn't notice, I think it would be best to avoid giving your last name. They already know mine, but there's no reason to give them yours and that will make it all work out better."

She considered that for a moment as they approached a door in the next building. "So they can't try to find me?"

"More like try to find out about you or your family. They had questions about my birth family and my school that I obviously couldn't answer and there's no need to subject you to that," he explained and they stopped in front of the door. "If you'd knock?" he requested. As she did, he added, "Don't say 'McGonagall' and don't worry about Catrin, she's just a friend now."

That made her feel a _little_ better, but there was still that sliver of doubt about the girl she was about to meet. The warning about their Professor made no sense to her though.

The door opened and an older woman wearing a mostly black dress answered the door. "May I help … you … Mr Potter! What are you doing here?!"

Susan suddenly understood. The woman didn't look like their professor, but the two had a similar disposition as a first impression.

"Happy Christmas, Sister Claire!" Harry told her enthusiastically and with a grin. "This is my girlfriend, Susan."

The woman gave her a good look now, which caused Susan to stand a little straighter. "Good evening." Then the nun looked down and saw his bag before looking back at him. "Why don't you come in since it seems you came prepared for the occasion."

They stepped inside and allowed the nun to close the door. She sighed at him. "Mr Potter, you didn't need to do this," glancing at the bag of what were obviously gifts.

"I wanted to see some friends and bring a little Christmas cheer. Besides, I did say I'd repay your kindness," he told her in a reminding way.

"Still…"

"Who was at the door?" another nun asked as she walked in.

"Sister Mary," Harry greeted her.

"Oh, Harry!" The new woman gasped as her hands flew to her mouth for a brief moment before she rushed forward and gave Harry a hug, forcing Susan to let go of him. "My, you're looking very good this evening; and you brought a friend."

"Yes, this is my girlfriend, Susan. I'll explain more in a few minutes. The Curate promised me he'd come over," Harry told her.

"Do come in and see your friends while you wait. They'll be happy to see you. Here, let me take your coats," Sister Mary told them and helped them become more comfortable.

A moment later, the time Susan had been dreading came. They walked into a room where most of the children were, about twenty or so. She suspected there were more living here because there were no very young ones to be seen at the moment.

To her surprise, it wasn't the older children their age that came over first, but a young blonde girl of six or so. She screamed, "Harry!" as she ran over and slammed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. That drew everyone else's attention and the older ones led the rest of the group.

"How's our little princess?" Harry asked with laughter in his voice. Santa Clause couldn't have done better, she thought. Susan could see there was a bond here; she was the little sister and Harry the big brother.

"I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, Elizabeth," he told her. "Have you been a good girl since I left?"

"Of course," she said imperiously, causing Harry to laugh. "Who's she?" the girl asked, pointing.

"This," Harry looked around at his friends, "is Susan. She goes to school with me and…"

"Is she your girlfriend?" Elizabeth asked suddenly.

Harry chuckled. "Yes, she's my girlfriend."

"Lucky…" the little blonde said, drawing several chuckles.

Susan smiled at the pair, but she was really watching the dark haired girl only a little younger than she was - the only older girl and she was also discouragingly pretty. The girl was looking at her intently, obviously sizing her up too.

Harry started introducing everyone around them. Susan remembered Phillip easily enough; Mike wasn't hard; but the rest of the names started to run together. Catrin's name was already known to her, but Susan nodded and said "Hi" to her as she did the rest.

Finally one of the boys, she couldn't remember which asked, "What's in the bag, Harry?"

"Oh this? I found a few things that I thought all of you might like, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to open them." That caused a chorus of "Unfair", but Harry only chuckled and leaned over. Opening the bag, he pulled out a smallish box and handed it to her. "Hold this please."

Susan took it, and two smaller, colorful paper bags he handed her. He then handed the big bag to one of the boys, Mike she thought. "Here, why don't you guys go put these under the tree?" He nodded at the Christmas tree.

They took the bag and most started to walk off to see what their wayward friend had brought. Harry held onto the little girl's arm and softly called, "Catrin?" The girl hung back and looked at him expectantly.

He took a step back and whispered, "Susan," so she came too. He took the bags from her and pulled out a small stuffed unicorn from each bag. He handed the silvery-white one with green beads for eyes to Catrin and the slightly golden one with what looked like a small tiara on its head to Elizabeth.

"For me?" Elizabeth grabbed it and looked at it for a moment before hugging it to her body. The scene was very cute.

Susan noticed Catrin looking at her uncertainly and decided to take the high road and ignored her misgivings. She turned away and knelt down to talk to Elizabeth. "Do you like it?"

"It's the best!" the girl told her excitedly. "Look, it even has a crown so she's a princess too. I'm named after the queen, you know."

"I had wondered," Susan said with a smile, doing her best not to turn around to see what was going on behind her.

"Why is it gold?"

"Because it's a _little_ unicorn," Susan said.

"Huh?"

"Little unicorns are golden when they're born and they stay that way for the first year or so. Then they start to turn a silvery-white as they grow up and stay that color," Susan explained, knowing the girl would have no idea this was really the truth. She suspected Harry made it correct with a little Transfiguration work.

Elizabeth looked at her new toy for a long moment. "I like that story."

"I'm glad." Susan couldn't take it any longer. "Elizabeth," she whispered and pulled the little girl a little closer. "What are they doing behind me?"

The girl understood and looked over Susan's shoulder. "Catrin's hugging him," she whispered confidentially, "but she just let go and now they're talking again."

"Thanks," Susan whispered before she stood and turned around. Catrin saw her and took another half-step backward, causing Harry to look at her and give her a smile. She was about to ask what was next when the sound of steps grabbed her attention and she saw the pastor walking in, surrounded by all four nuns.

Harry stepped over and whispered, "Thanks," as he took the last present from her and walked over to the adults.

Catrin stepped over to her. Susan saw that Elizabeth was still at her side but looking at her new toy.

"Thank you for letting me talk to him," she said quietly, watching Harry as Susan was.

"Of course," Susan said more magnanimously than she really felt. She had no idea why she felt jealous of the girl, but she recognized the feeling for what it was. Maybe it because she was prettier than Susan thought herself?

"You're lucky, Susan, Harry is a very special boy."

If you only knew, Susan thought. "He is." She looked to see Catrin looking at her too. Looking into the girl's dark brown eyes, Susan thought she suddenly understood. The girl seemed to really love Harry, not a crush, not a fantasy or a fan-girl as some at her school were about The-Boy-Who-Lived. No, Catrin seemed to really love him, despite how little she knew him and that's why Susan felt jealous. Understanding that now and knowing who Harry had ultimately picked, Susan relaxed a little. "He's like no other and all others pale next to him, don't they?"

Catrin stared at her for a moment longer before she nodded and seemed to deflate slightly, silently acknowledging Susan's place at Harry's side.

The girls watched the adults argue quietly with Harry over the now opened little box. He just stood there and smiled at them.

"Promise me one thing?" Catrin asked, still watching Harry. "Promise me you'll take care of him."

Susan couldn't help but smile. "With all that I am, because he would do no less for his friends, including you." She offered that olive branch.

Harry pushed the little box that had been thrust at him gently back to Sister Claire before he turned and started walking back to the two girls.

Susan put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You'll find someone else one day, someone right for you."

"I hope so," Catrin said before she stepped forward and gave Harry a hug that was so quick he didn't have time to respond. "Happy Christmas and thank you again for the gift." With that said, she hurried out of the room looking like she was barely keeping her composure.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked with concern.

Susan looked over and saw Elizabeth still there. "Girl stuff that I'll explain later. Are we leaving?"

"Yes." He knelt down and told the little girl good-bye, who gave him a tight hug.

As they made to leave, Sister Mary brought their coats to them, but she gave Harry a hug first. "Thank you so much. It will be so helpful."

"Just as you were helpful to me," he replied with a smile. After helping Susan put her coat on, he told everyone good-bye and waved.

Outside, she held onto his arm as they walked down the street and back to their Apparation spot. "What was the argument about?"

Harry chuckled. "They didn't want to take my gift."

"What was it?"

"Money, five thousand pounds sterling. I told them they could use it fix up the orphanage or whatever else they've been planning but couldn't afford before, like repainting it." He smiled at her. "It was really funny. I could tell they first thought I'd stolen it or something, but they wouldn't say it. Considering I needed their help to buy clothes when I came to them, I understand. They seemed to understand finally when I told them that I was one of the exceptions to the poor orphan stories in that my birth family had left me money, but I couldn't ever use it because my aunt and uncle would have tried to take it all away from me. Now that I'm not with them, I can use it like I want."

"That was very nice of you," she told him, genuinely impressed at his caring for the others that were without a family.

"And it was nice of you to give Catrin a moment to talk to me. I'm sure that was hard for you," he said, looking at her.

"A little," she finally admitted. "She really does love you, or what she thinks is love."

"Really?" he sounded surprised. "I knew she liked me and wanted us to keep dating, but I didn't think it was all that serious. Although," he paused thoughtfully for a moment, "I guess that would explain one of her comments back in August a little better." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter now, you're stuck with me," he teased her.

"I can live with that," she teased back.

He pulled her into an alleyway and put his arms around her to Apparate her back home. Giving her a very soulful kiss in the entry hall, he wished her good-night and left for his room.

Susan sort of floated into the living room and found her parents still up. Her father was reading a book while her mother was writing, probably making a list of things to be done tomorrow, she guessed.

"How did it go?" her mother asked as the girl took off her coat and sank into a chair.

"Very well," she said as she pulled out her wand and reversed the transfiguration so her long coat became a cloak again. "It was a good evening. We went to the church that ran the orphanage he stayed at last summer where we sang a lot of Christmas carols. Then we went to the orphanage where he gave them gifts, including 5000 pounds of money." She said the last a little hesitantly, not sure she was repeating that part correctly.

"Five thousand pounds sterling, maybe?" her father clarified.

"Yes, that was it. It was to help them. I think he said they wanted to repaint the building," she explained.

"That was very generous of him," her father commented approvingly.

"So, is he the one?" her mother asked in a lowered voice and conspiratorially.

"Pat…"

"Hush," she told her husband. "Well?" her mother asked again.

Susan stole a look at the hallway and didn't see anyone. "You do know he has a say in it too." At her mother's pointed look, Susan relented. "Maybe, probably, I hope so?"

Her mother silently clapped her hands with a look of glee.

"Really, Mum," Susan rolled her eyes. "Nothing's certain, we're only teens and all of that rot."

"Hush, child," Pat said good-naturedly, "you're spoiling my fantasy of finding you a good one."

"Listen to your daughter," Vince told his wife. "Besides, I haven't given my approval yet."

"Dad," Susan growled quietly.

He kept his serious expression. "He seems like a good lad so far, but no one is an automatic yes, my daughter."

"Vincent…" her mother started.

"I said he was good so far," the head of the house said, looking at each of them, "but this is not a decision to be made instantly and you both know that. Go get a good night's sleep; we have the rest of the holidays."

"Yes, father," Susan grumped before she rose and dutifully gave her father a hug and then her mother. "I bet Phillip didn't have this much trouble."

"You might be surprised," her father said off-handedly.

That gave her something to think about and something to ask her brother tomorrow. But that was tomorrow and tonight she'd dream about Harry. She smiled as she thought about how well they got along with each other and how he was starting to trust her with his secrets.

* * *

Harry sat on the couch with his arm around Susan as he listened to the family talk, including her brother Phillip.

Phillip was about ten years older than Susan, or about Bill Weasley's age, Harry guessed. His wife, Lisa, was about the same age and she was six months pregnant with their first child. They had been good about treating him normally so far, at least after the initial quick glance at his forehead to see that he really was Harry Potter.

At a lull in the conversation, Harry looked at the mother. "Pat, how long until lunch? I was wondering if I had time to give Susan the rest of her presents now or if I should wait until after lunch."

"Oh, I think we have time now," Susan said without hesitation and a grin, causing laughter from the rest, including Harry.

"It'll be at least a couple of hours," Pat told him, "so you have time now if you want."

"Let's go then, Harry," his girlfriend said as she rose and pulled his arm to make him stand him up too. "Do I need my cloak?"

He looked at her usual skirt and blouse. "We won't be outdoors for any significant time, so I think what you have on is fine. Get your wand if you don't have it on you. I need to get something from my room first and then we can go." He headed to his room and she went to hers, meeting back in the living room.

"We'll be back in an hour or so, two at the most," he told her family before taking her hand and leading them to the entryway.

"Read this silently and memorize it." When she had, he placed the note in a pocket and Apparated them away.

— — —

Susan felt them land on a front porch and the biting wind hit them. "I thought you said we wouldn't be outside," she said a little demandingly as she felt her skin react to the cold.

Harry tapped his wand on a plain door that was hard to look at; causing her to know magic was at work here. "Think about what you read on the note," he told her as he opened the door and ushered her in hurriedly.

As she thought about the note, the door suddenly became easier to see, not that she had time to do more than take in the "#12" on it before she was inside and the door was closed behind her.

"Shush," he whispered. "Not a sound while we're in this room."

That was strange, she thought, but let him lead her past what was probably a portrait with curtains over it. He continued to pull her down a corridor to what was the parlor of the house, and had probably been very nicely decorated years ago. Now, it looked very run-down. "Where are we and what does the Order of the Phoenix have to do with this?" she whispered, thinking about the secret on the note.

"Sorry about having to land on the porch, but I knew we wouldn't be there long," he said in a normal voice. "This was originally my godfather's house, or really his family's house. I inherited it from him when he died last June."

"This was Sirius Black's?" she asked as she sat on couch, remembering he had mentioned his godfather before.

"Yeah," he confirmed as he walked over to the fireplace and used his wand to start the wood there on fire. "For about the last year before he died, he let The Order of the Phoenix meet here. That's an organization led by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort. They don't meet here anymore, but they had a Fidelius Charm up to hide it and I've left that up so I can stay here safely. That's why the secret is like it is. The family wards don't let any of them in though, only my house-elf, myself, and anyone I bring in."

He took a seat next to her with a frown. "I'd be upset with Kreacher - he's the house-elf - for not having this place warm like I asked him to, but thinking about my command, I can see that I left him a way out. I'll have to be more careful with my orders in the future."

It was quite cool in here dressed in her skirt and blouse. "Harry, can you face the other way for just a moment?"

"Huh?"

"Face the other way. I want to transfigure my skirt and I'd prefer you weren't looking in case I make a mistake." Not that I ever have before, she thought. Transfiguration might have been her best subject.

"Err, all right," he replied before turning his entire body to face the other way.

With careful thought, she turned away from him and transfigured her skirt into a pair of jeans. Pleased with her work, she told him, "All right, I'm done."

When she turned back around, she saw him looking at her, his expression turned gobsmacked and he seemed frozen, causing her to think she'd made a mistake, but a quick look showed everything as it should have been. "Harry? Harry?"

He shook his head. "Uh, sorry, but … wow! I think this is the first time I've seen you not in a skirt and wow. You have great legs and-" He clamped his mouth closed on whatever else he was going to say, which wasn't hard to guess.

She blushed slightly, very pleased he liked what he saw. She almost laughed as he blushed when he realized what he'd blurted out. "Thank you, Harry. That's very sweet. Is there anything about me you'd change if you could?" she asked curiously. She wasn't too worried as he's always said he thought she was pretty, but she did wonder as she knew a few parts of her could be better.

"Very little," he said finally. "I'm happy with you as you are."

"Oh?" she was surprised at his answer. "So what would you change?"

"Well," he said hesitantly, "I'd have you wear jeans like that a lot more often."

Susan looked down at the jeans she'd made fairly tight on purpose, so the answer pleased her. "I wear skirts all the time because that's how my mother raised me. She always said that young ladies wore skirts in public. I sometimes wear other things when I'm at home. Is there anything else you'd change?"

She could tell by his look that there was "What?" she prompted him.

"Err, not sure I should say this one," he said, not looking at her.

"That bad, huh?" she teased him, not overly worried.

"Uh, not really, it's just, well, I'm not sure if I should mention it. It might not be proper," he told her, still unable to look at her.

Now she was really curious. "For this once, forget being proper and just tell me. If it's really so bad, I'll let you know and we can talk about something else."

Harry looked down at his hands for a moment. "Well, most of the time I think you're a little too thin." He seemed to edge away from her a little.

Susan had to admit that he'd surprised her. "Harry," she reached out gently and touched his shoulder, "I'm not upset about that. True, a girl's weight is something you don't normally mention and it's always bad to tell a girl she's fat, but I did ask you so it's all right. Do you understand?"

He nodded, but still wouldn't look at her.

"If it matters, I've always been like this, although I've been gaining a little as I get older and my mother says that in time, especially after a child or two, I won't be so thin so I should enjoy it now while I'm this way." Deciding that she needed to reinforce her point, she moved over and pulled him into a hug. "I'm not upset with you."

"Really?"

"Really, Harry." When she finally let him go, she said, "Now, what did you what have for me? Why did we come here instead of going to our back garden to talk?"

He finally turned and gave her a tentative smile. "Thanks for being so understanding. If you don't want to be with me after I tell you this first one, I'll understand."

It was all Susan could do not to sigh. Now that she understood about his relatives and how he was raised, she knew his insecurities were their fault, which made her want to hex them into little pieces. "Harry, don't go there," Susan said flatly.

"What?" Harry asked bewildered.

"The 'woe is me, I'm going to tell you my big secret and then you won't want to be my girlfriend any more' business. Are you planning to become a Dark wizard with your first Dark act being the murder of your girlfriend?" she asked with a hint of exasperation, knowing the likelihood of that.

"No!" he answered immediately.

"Then I don't believe you have anything to worry about. Just tell me what you need to tell me," she encouraged him. She grabbed his hand and held onto it to show that she trusted him.

"Well, as you've probably noticed, I do have a Dark wizard trying to kill me, along with his followers. I've also been told there's a prophecy about me that says I will be the one to kill him, but I've decided that I don't believe it. Of course, it may not matter what I believe, because he knows about it and so will probably keep coming after me." He looked right at her now. "Last term has been the best ever, but I'm not a very safe person to be around. I'm trying very hard not to have an adventure at school this year, but I do sometimes worry that something will happen whether I like it or not."

Susan considered all of that for a long moment and did not let go of him. "I recognize that Magic can do some very unusual things, but I'm not sure what to think about Divination as a whole, or prophecies in particular. I assume you've discussed this with Professor Dumbledore?"

He nodded and slumped back against the couch, but he didn't let go of her hand. "He thinks it's true, but it was given to him. The prophecy says I have a secret power and he thinks that power is _love_." Harry snorted and shook his head in unbelief.

She had to agree with his unbelief. "That's sounds really weird, even for him. I don't know about the prophecy, Harry, but I can say that it doesn't scare me away even if it is true. I'll still be with you and you can't get rid of me that easily; real Hufflepuffs stand with their friends," she told him with a smile, which he looked grateful for. "However, I can see now why you're always training."

"Yeah," he said with a nod, "even if I don't believe the prophecy, it's simply practical to always be ready."

"Well, that wasn't so bad," she told him. "Is the next thing worse?"

Harry actually chuckled. "No, I started with the worst in case that scared you off."

Susan snorted in a way that she knew would draw "a look" from her mother as being unladylike. "Sorry, Harry, you're stuck with me." She was pleased that caused him to grin. "So, what else is there?"

"Well, the next two are more fun than anything." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a worn and oversized piece of parchment and handed it to her.

As she looked at the blank parchment, she couldn't stop from expressing her initial thoughts. "There's magic on this, else it wouldn't have held up for so long because it looks old and very used."

"Hold your wand on it and say 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good'," he instructed her.

She couldn't help raising an eyebrow at him for the strange command, but she pulled her wand out and did it anyway. Susan was awestruck as writing welcomed her to the Maurader's Map and then a drawing that she recognized as a map of the school. "Wow," said softly and reverently, "I can see great potential with this."

"Yeah," he admitted with an easy grin, "it's very useful at times."

"This is how you've been catching Malfoy out late at night, isn't it?" His grin broadened as he nodded, causing her to chuckle. "This is also how you knew to jump out from behind a corner and scare Hannah and Ernie when they were on patrol a few weeks ago too, isn't it?"

"Guilty," he said still enjoying the fun moment. "But no telling her or anyone else," he admonished, losing his smile.

"I wouldn't think of it," she said, imagining how useful this could be in playing jokes. She didn't need to ask, she knew Hermione and Ron would know of this. Susan wondered if Ginny did too, but decided it didn't really matter. "Is the next one as fun?"

"Put you wand on it and say 'Mischief Managed'," he told her.

She did and saw the Map go back to being blank. "I'm impressed. Based on its age, I'll guess you didn't make it."

"No, that would have been my father, my godfather, Professor Lupin, and the one who betrayed them," he told her as he took the Map back.

"Very nice to have something of your dad's," she told him and saw him brighten slightly.

"Here's something else from my dad's family," he said as he reached into another pocket, "Other than magic, I've never understood how this compresses to be so small, but when you use it with the Map…"

Susan saw the silky, silvery cloth he pulled out and barely dared to hope it was what she thought. Grabbing it, she put it around her shoulders as she stood. Looking down, all she could see was the floor - nothing of her. "I can't believe you have an Invisibility Cloak!" She couldn't help laughing now as she understood his point about using the Cloak and the Map together. "No wonder you've done so much over the years with those two items."

He shook his head. "You'd be surprised to know how little I use them then, although I will say that I use the Map regularly now that I'm a Prefect … but before then," he shrugged, "not so much."

"That may have to change when we return," she told him as she removed the Cloak and handed it back.

"I assume you have some ideas?" he asked with a hint of a smile.

"You bet your wand," she told him with a grin she couldn't suppress. "I'm glad you showed me all of this, Harry, even the bad one." She sat on his lap and put her hands around his neck. "We'll get through all of this, even if I have to help you get rid of some Death Eaters."

"Thank you," he whispered as he gave her a hug. "There is one more thing though."

"Oh?" She wondered what this was as he became more serious again.

"If prophecies really exist and if the one about me is true, then I'm fairly certain this is the power it spoke of." He held out his hand and air around them swirled a little and the pillow on the couch rose into the air and floated to him.

Susan was so surprised she couldn't say anything for a moment as the air continued to swirl around her and the pillow floated above his hand. "You can do wandless magic?"

"I supposed that is the real answer, but not in the way you're thinking of." He grabbed the pillow out of the air and threw it back on the couch behind her. "Consider that log," he said with a nod in the direction of the fireplace.

She watched a large log lift from the stack on the hearth and stand up on one flat end.

"If you wanted to chop it in half, how would you?" he asked.

"A cutting charm from the top?" she guessed, not sure where he was going with this.

"That would probably do the trick, but that's not what I do. I'll slow it down for you to see better … watch."

Above the log, a milky shape that looked like an axe head formed and then suddenly flew down, causing the log to split. As the two pieces of wood settled, she realized the axe head was gone. "Where did the axe thing come from and where did it go?"

"I caused it to form out of air. When I was done with it, I released it. If I need something, I just compress air together make whatever tool I need." He shrugged as if it should have been obvious.

Thinking about it for a moment, she realized it sort of was obvious once you understood what he was doing. "So you're an air elemental?"

"Err, sort of but not really," he corrected her gently, "at least not from what I read in the library. An air elemental, or maybe an elementalist, can do most of what I do, but they also have control over air and wind creatures, at least to a degree. I've tried calling a Wind Sprite, but nothing happened. I get along very well with my owl, but I can't really control her or any other bird for that matter. I can do things with air and that's it."

"How did you make the pillow float?" she asked, although she thought she knew.

"I commanded the air under it to push it up and then become solid enough under it to hold it where I wanted." He sighed. "I have no idea how I do it, it just works."

"Is this how you've found yourself in so much trouble over the years, doing things like this?" she asked mischievously.

Harry chucked at her joke. "No, if I'd had the power sooner I can promise I wouldn't have been in so much trouble."

"So the power is new?" At his nod, she had to ask, "Then when did you first notice it?"

He blew out a breath of air and ran his fingers thru his hair, his expression looking sad. "The day after my godfather died."

"I'm sorry." She pulled him to her and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and she enjoyed it. Susan understood that the sadness was partly for the loss of his godfather, but also partly that he thought he might have been able to save the man if he'd had the power sooner.

"Thank you," he told her, his voice muffled on her shoulder. "We should probably return."

"Probably," she agreed with a small smile, "but a few more minutes won't matter." She kissed him soundly until they were both practically panting and he'd forgotten his sadness. "I love you," she told him breathily.

"I love you too, Susan."

She wouldn't have minded more kissing, but they probably did really need to return; so it was with great reluctance and force of will that she stood. When he looked at the fireplace the fire started dying down and went out in a few seconds, she gasped. "How did you do that?"

"Fire needs air to burn, so I just created a bubble around the fire and then pulled the air out," he explained.

"That's really amazing," she told him as they started to walk slowly back towards the front door. "At Halloween, that's how you kept the wind away from the Astronomy Tower, isn't it?"

"Yeah, they're both things I've practiced," he explained. "In fact, now that you know this, and you are the only other person to know, I'd like you to help me practice. I think I should be able to stop spells, but I've never been able to try."

"Ooh, I get to practice with you!"

"And keep it a secret," he stressed.

"Of course!" She understood fully. This was the sort of thing you didn't let out, especially if Dark wizards were after you, or if you didn't want the Ministry Unspeakables coming after you to study you; or worse, have the Ministry try to do something to you because you had a power they couldn't control.

He Apparated them back to her house.

"Well?" her brother Phillip asked, being the nosy big brother that he was. Her mother looked like she wanted to ask the same thing.

"Harry told me a few things about him and his family. He'll tell you when he wants to," she answered to all of her family, gaining a grateful look from her boyfriend.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	9. Visitors

(A/N: To those who pointed out my mistake with Harry telling Susan the prophesy in the last chapter as if it was something new … well, you're correct - my goof. Amusingly, neither my beta nor myself caught it. I guess we've been focusing on the trees and not the forest. :) I'll see about changing that in a future version of chapter 8.

Also, sorry for the delay with the release of this chapter. I tend to disappear when the Olympics come around and this time is no different. I'm taking a break from watching today to deal with things I've been putting off all week, such as this story. You should infer that it might be another 2 weeks before you see the next chapter. After that, I'll probably go back to once a week posting. Sorry, about that! If you're bothered by the delays, please see the usher about getting a refund on your ticket. ;)

* * *

 **Chapter 9 - Visitors**

The day after Boxing Day, Harry and Susan were talking quietly in the living room. Vincent had returned to work, Susan's brother Phillip and his wife Lisa had gone home. Pat was in the kitchen keeping an eye on them, but that didn't stop Susan from giving him the occasional quick kiss as they talked and teased quietly.

Harry was rather pleased with the holidays so far, feeling that he and Susan were a little closer after he'd shared his secrets with her. At the moment, they were waiting for a visitor. If things went well, Susan would learn a little more about him.

The doorbell chimed and the two stood to get it. Harry noticed that Pat was in the doorway, watching, her wand within easy reach. Harry stood back while Susan opened the door.

"Remus," Harry greeted the man with a nod, sounding a little formal. "Come in." Susan closed the door after him.

"Thank you, Harry." The man looked over. "Miss Bones, I hope you're doing well."

"I am, Professor," she replied.

"Remus will do; I'm no longer a professor," he told her before being forced to look up by a new voice.

"Remus Lupin."

"Pat Stil- I'm sorry, Pat Bones. It's been a long time and I'm surprised that you remember me." Remus stood still, even if there was no wand on him. Pat was obviously judging him.

"When Harry said he'd invited an old family friend over, you weren't who I was expecting, although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Of course I remember you, being subjected to two years of you and your pranking friends, not to mention hearing your name a few years ago as a professor at Hogwarts." Pat fixed him with a stare. "Please forgive my rudeness, but I don't keep track of things as you do. How long until the next full moon?"

Lupin stiffened slightly, but the blunt question didn't stop him for answering. "The last full moon was four nights ago. I'm quite safe and I would never hurt them."

Pat's look softened. "My apologies, Remus. I didn't mean to imply you would. I asked because I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be an accident. I heard what happened a couple of years ago."

Harry didn't move or change his expression, trying to hide his guilt since he was the source of Pat and Vincent knowing the story about the end of his third year when he'd mentioned some of his adventures at school. He saw Remus glance at him, but there was no anger in it.

"Yes, one of the very few times I was sidetracked enough to forget the day and hour. Considering the outcome, it will be a long time - if ever - before I forget again," Remus answered sincerely.

Pat nodded before looking at the students. "Why don't you visit in the back garden; I think that would be relaxing and private enough."

"If you'll follow me?" Susan said and led the way as the hostess.

Harry went last. As he closed the back door, he could see why Pat had suggested this. It gave her a window to watch them. It make him a little sorry for Remus, not being trusted like everyone else, but he also understood Pat's concern. Remus forgetting about his potion and not locking himself up had caused a very large problem two and half years ago.

"This is very nice," Remus commented as he looked around.

"Thank you, I'll tell my father, he's the gardener," Susan told him with a smile as she offered him a seat on the magically protected patio that was warm and lush with green plants despite the outside temperature that was low enough for snow flurries. "I'm sorry about my mother-"

"Don't worry about it," Remus cut her off. "She's quite correct to be concerned for her children."

Harry jumped in to try to ease some of the tension. "How are you? Have you had a good holiday?"

"Very reasonable," Remus replied and sounding a little forced. "How about you? I assume you're here because you two are dating?"

"Our holiday has been very good," Harry answered for both of them. "Yes, we're dating, so she invited me for the holiday and I've met her family. It makes me wish mine were still alive, but I can't change the past."

Lupin nodded and looked down. "I know, I've wished for that and never received it either. Harry … I'm sorry I haven't always been there for you in the past. As I said in my letter, I've never really been sure of my role with you, or what it should have been."

"I can understand that." Or at least mostly, he thought. "I would have liked to have seen you more when I was younger, if only to have had a better introduction to the magical world and get some protection from the Dursleys, but I can sort of understand why that didn't happen. I guess the part I really don't understand is why I never heard from you after I started Hogwarts."

Remus hung his head. "I'm sorry, Harry, I really don't have a good reason other than I was afraid of what you'd think of me. I know that doesn't help the past, but I'd like to try to be your friend, be part of your life. I know I can't take the place of Sirius and I'm not going to try, but I'd like to change things going forward."

Harry considered that and glanced at Susan, to see her looking at both of them thoughtfully. "I said in my letter that I was willing and I stand by that. We'll have to take this slowly, I think."

"Sure Harry."

He looked relieved, Harry thought, and in reality he was relieved too that they were really working this out. "So, I've heard that you and Tonks are dating. How's that working out?"

Remus brightened. "Surprisingly well, or it's surprising to me. I still think she could do better than me, but we do have a good time together … we find each other lot of fun."

"I can understand that," Harry said as he smiled at Susan. "I sometimes think Susan could do better but it works out."

"If you only knew," Susan said teasingly.

Lupin smiled at her. "He really doesn't understand that you've won the jackpot, does he?"

"What?!" Harry objected and sat up straighter, causing the other two to laugh.

"The best part is," Susan said as she stopped laughing, "his cluelessness is part of what makes him so adorable."

"I am right here you know," he objected, which caused more chuckles.

"In many ways," Remus looked at him, "you remind me so much of your father." He looked at Susan. "You have quite a very different personality than his mum from what I've seen today.

"I remember once when…"

— — —

Eventually, Lupin had to leave and Harry held out his hand, which Remus took. "I'm glad we were able to get together and start to work things out. You will write me?" Harry asked the last part teasingly.

"I will," Lupin said before he gave a wry smile. "And if I don't, I'm sure Tonks will make me."

"Good. We can also get together this coming summer," Harry told him as he walked him to the back door with Susan right behind him, before Harry stopped him.

"Remus, one question before you go." Harry really wanted to know this. "Sirius once mentioned that Snape and my father didn't get along when they were in school. Is that why he treats me so badly?"

Lupin looked like he didn't want to answer, but he finally said, "Snape is a complicated person and the Marauders helped make him so by pranking him mercilessly at times. Of course, Snape with the help of a few friends returned the favors, so it wasn't a one-sided war." He sighed. "The business with Sirius luring Snape to visit me on the night of the full moon such that your father had to save him just made things worse as it created conflicting feelings within the man. However, in the end, I think there were simply too many bad experiences between them."

With a smile to himself, Lupin finished with, "I suppose that's the long way to say yes, I think he doesn't like you because of what happened with your father and Snape can't let history go. You, however, need to take the high road and give him the respect he's due as a professor, even if he makes that difficult."

Harry considered that, disappointed but not surprised that Sirius's reason was confirmed. "I don't know that I'm willing to do that. I've already promised Dumbledore that Snape's bad behavior will have consequences. If he'll leave me alone and respect me as a person, I can do the same back; but if he doesn't, well, he's just being a bully and I know what to do with bullies."

Remus opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself. "I'm not sure that's your wisest course, but I can understand your feelings. I do believe you'll end up getting yourself in lots of trouble that way, but it's your choice. You're nearly seventeen and it's time you start learning how to work with others in the world, both for the good and the bad."

"I don't want special treatment, I just want basic respect as a person … just like you do," Harry reminded him.

With a sign and a nod, Remus said, "Well argued, Harry, just be careful … all right?"

"I will," Harry replied solemnly. Having found out what he wanted to know, he opened the back door and led their group into the house and towards the front door.

"Remus, I'm sorry for my earlier rudeness; it was very unbecoming of me and I shouldn't have let my surprise rule me." They had all stopped when Pat spoke to them.

In his usual mild manner, Remus Lupin looked at her and nodded. "Thank you, Pat." She smiled at him and returned to the kitchen.

Harry opened the front door and said, "Until next time, take care."

"You too, Harry."

Harry stood in the doorway and watched Remus walk down the sidewalk that was barely visible from the slow snow fall towards the metal archway over the end of the sidewalk that signified the edge of the front garden and the edge of the wards. He was about to close the front door when he saw a patch of snow floating in the air just beyond the arch.

"Crap!" he said as he hastily closed the front door and then drew his wand.

"What?!" Susan demanded, surprised by his alarm.

"If you hear spell fire, come out with your wand drawn," he told her before he disappeared from the entry way with a crack.

Harry appeared not far behind the anomaly he thought he'd seen which was just beyond the low white picket fence outlining the front garden and very near the archway. With a thought, he blew a gust of wind at the ground in front of him and the snow flew forward and created the outline of a person. His wand already in motion, a jet of bright red light leapt from his wand and struck the previously hidden person who thudded lightly as he landed.

"Harry?!" Lupin called, pulling his wand out as he ran over.

"Can you see if anyone else is around? Some sort of revealing spell for hidden people?" he asked hurriedly.

Lupin muttered a spell as he moved his wand around in a circle, causing a faint ring of magic to move away from them. Looking all around them, the only reaction they saw as a red outline around Susan as she stood on the front porch, wand in hand. The man looked down. "How did you know he was there?" He tapped his wand on the snow covered body shape, causing the person to shimmer into view. His face was covered with a hood and a thick scarf.

"I saw snow floating in the air," Harry said as he used his wand and levitated the body towards the house, his friend walking back with him. Reaching the front door, he saw that Pat had joined her daughter, wand drawn too.

"I saw snow floating just beyond the arch," Harry told them, pre-empting the question he knew they had. "I assume there shouldn't have been anyone out there?" he asked, looking at Pat.

"No," she replied quietly and looking a little shaken as she realized what was going on.

Kneeling down, Harry pulled the intruder's hood back and frowned. "That looks like Marcus Flint."

"I think so too," Susan said quietly.

With determination to figure this out quickly, he started doing silent Vanishing spells on the fabric covering the left arm. After three spells to get through the layers, they all saw the Dark Mark on the intruder's bare arm. Pat gasped while the rest frowned.

Harry tied Flint up in ropes, far more than was really necessary, but it made him feel like he was keeping the others safe. He then woke up their prisoner, who started shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Mister Flint, what a surprise," Harry told him grimly. "What were you doing here spying on us?"

"Bugger off, Potter. Just turn me over to the Aurors," the former student sneered at him.

"It may come to that, Mister Flint, but I need some information first," Harry continued to stare at him, but the young man didn't say anything else. Looking up, he asked, "Remus, do you know Legilimency?"

"No, sorry," Lupin replied. "We'll have to turn him over. Maybe the Ministry can get something out of him."

"Not just yet," Harry said as he thought an idea through.

"Harry, you better not be thinking what I think you are," Remus said warningly.

"Then perhaps you need to stay in the house until I return. I'll walk around to the back garden and I'll be back shortly." Harry levitated his prisoner, who started to look alarmed. "Sorry - Susan, Pat, please wait inside until I return." He walked away from the front door with his levitated prisoner and turned to walk around the house. He also noticed that Remus followed him.

Harry dropped the bound young man in the snow in the back garden before Vanishing his cloak, robes, and shirt so his upper body was bare; he'd been careful to leave the ropes intact. Another wave of his wand cast the Muffling charm on the three men. Squatting down, he looked at his former schoolmate in contempt as Flint looked back at him in dawning horror. "This is how it's going to work..."

"You can't do this to me!" Flint fought the ropes and tried to get up, but Harry shot a silent Bludgeoning hex at the nearest elbow, which happened to be just above the Dark Mark. Flint screamed and rolled a little, but he also stopped trying to get up.

" _Mister_ Flint, I'll have you know that screaming won't help you, I've contained the sound to just the three of us," Harry told him calmly, purposefully not looking at Lupin, who he was sure was making an unpleasant and disappointed face at him. "If you tell me what I want to know I won't have to break any more bones and then I'll take you to the Aurors. If you don't talk and I keep breaking bones you'll probably die. In that case, I'll just make your body disappear; I've seen it done before. It's something important for you to consider, Mister Flint. " Harry's voice became colder than the snow, "If you think I won't do this, don't forget that this is war and your very presence here means that you're a threat to me and mine." He pointed his wand at Flint's right elbow.

"Stop!" Flint panted and grunted in pain. "Stop, I'll tell you."

"Wise choice," Harry's voice was back to calm but determined. "What were you doing here, spying on us?"

"I was, I was supposed to watch to see if you were here."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"A few hours at a time for the last few days. I'd stay as long as I could before I got too cold. Then I'd leave to warm up for a few hours and come back."

Harry considered that and was thankful that he'd stayed in the house so much, and that he'd never walked out the front door. "Is anyone else being spied on? Any of my other friends."

"Don't know!" Flint said with another groan.

That was answered too fast and didn't sound too convincing. He cast another Bludgeoning hex at the other elbow causing more screaming for a moment. "Don't lie to me, Mister Flint; it's not good for your health."

"One other!" Flint finally shouted. "Yaxley! I don't know where he went, I swear! I swear I don't know!"

Having his questions answered, Harry finally looked at Lupin, who did look very disappointed and even slightly disgusted at him. "Are there any other questions you can think of that I should ask, Remus?"

Lupin responded by casted a silent Stunning hex at their prisoner, putting him out of his misery temporarily. "That's enough."

Harry stood and levitated Flint, walking him over through the temperature control magical curtain to the back patio and dropped the prisoner before Stunning him again to make sure.

Susan and Pat hurried out of the house and looked at him. "What did you find out?!" Susan demanded.

"There's one more watcher but he didn't know whose house was being watched." Harry looked at Lupin. "Do you know where Hermione lives?"

"I do," said Lupin, sounding like he didn't want to admit that.

"Susan, call your friends on the Floo and tell them that you were being watched by a Death Eater and tell them to very carefully check outside their wards. Tell them to be bloody careful because the watcher will probably be Disillusioned. Also call my friends too, starting with the Weasleys; be sure to tell them we're coming and we'll Apparate to the paddock. I have a feeling the other Death Eater is there, but we'll go check on Hermione first since she's the least protected."

"All right; stay safe," Susan told him as she hugged him.

"And keep an eye on Flint too. We'll be back as soon as we can." Looking at Lupin, he said, "To the front again since you're not keyed into the wards; you can Apparate us from there."

Pat stayed with Flint, her wand pointed at him as she took a seat. Susan followed them in and went straight to the fireplace.

As they left via the front door, Harry looked at Lupin. "If you can take us to their back garden that might be best. You can do your revealing spell there and then we can go to the front and check there too."

Lupin looked at him for a moment. "Did you really have to do that, Harry? We could have taken him to the Aurors and they could have given him Veritiserum to get the answers without hurting him."

"Is that what Albus Dumbledore would do? How long would that have taken, Remus? And what if the Aurors who took charge of him were Death Eaters, sympathizers, or just incompetent? I don't trust very many people at the Ministry; they don't have much of a track record in this war or the last one."

"Fine, you don't trust them all, but some are trustworthy. We can't become like them or why fight them at all," Lupin argued.

"Remus, if I was like them, I would have tortured him for fun and then done it some more to get my answers; I wouldn't have given him a chance to tell me without hurting him. Would you have preferred that I used the Cruciatus Curse on him?" Harry watched him struggle with the question for a moment as they reached the edge of the family wards.

"No" was the quiet answer. "I don't have a good answer, but I don't believe you did the right thing back there."

"As I told him, this is war and his presence was a threat to those I consider my family, which includes you by the way. If Tom Riddle and his moronic minions would leave me and mine alone, I wouldn't have had to do that. Now, let's go make sure the Grangers are safe." Harry put his hand on the man's arm and held on tightly. A moment later, Lupin took them away.

They landed in a back garden in front of a tall wooden fence. Harry appreciated that because it meant no one could be behind them. Lupin did the spell and there were no pulses of red.

"Looks like they're not home," Harry said quietly as he gestured to the house that had all of its curtains closed. "Let's check the front. Can you at least whisper the spell this time so I can learn it?"

Carefully, they went through the side gate and stood behind some bushes while Lupin did the spell again, whispering the words as well as slowing down the wand moments.

"I don't think anyone's here or we'd have seen something, even if they were under an Invisibility Cloak," Lupin told him.

"All right, let's go to the paddock behind the Burrow. I'll meet you by the set of goals furthest from the house. And before you ask, yes, I do officially have my license from the Ministry." Harry left and arrived at the Weasleys' paddock, a little disappointed it wasn't snowing here. In fact, he could tell it had snowed quite a bit less here as it was only in patches on the ground.

Lupin arrived with a soft crack right beside him. "You really have your Apparation License?"

"Yeah, an obscure law that actually works in my favor for once," Harry whispered back. "Do you suppose the watcher, if there is one, heard us arrive?"

"It's possible, but probably not. There are a thick band of trees between here and the house, so it depends on how close in he is … if he's even here. Careful where you step to avoid noise," Lupin cautioned him. "I'll do the spell when we get closer."

"Should we disillusion ourselves too?" Harry asked as they started forward.

"Probably would help, but that will also mean the Weasleys might think we're the bad guy."

Harry considered that and stopped. "Disillusion me please. I'll have to have Flitwick teach me this soon." He felt the cold feeling run over him as he saw his body and everything on him disappear. When he saw Lupin disappear, he started forward again. "When you can see the house, do your spell. I'll try to stay near you."

They walked slowly and Harry bumped into the back of Remus a few times, but they took the walkway to the house, all the while hoping that if Yaxley really was here, he would be on this side and they could hit him before he could leave.

Harry softly bumped into Lupin again as they reached the edge of the trees and the house came into view. "We're at the edge of the wards, get ready" was whispered.

A moment later, Harry saw the ring of magic appear around them spread out. He looked around frantically trying to watch all directions at once. They should have planned who would watch which way he realized too late. A red blimp pulsed near the corner of Arthur's shed and Harry reacted instantly. Using a brick of compressed air, he slammed it on top of the form and sent a silent Stunning spell low to the ground a fraction of a second later.

Remus also cast a spell before he suddenly started to appear and then Harry felt magic running over him again and he became visible again too.

While that was happening several spells flew from the house towards the form at the shed, followed by a larger volley towards them, causing the two rescuers to dive away.

"Stop, it's Lupin and Potter!" Remus shouted. "Get the person by the shed."

Another Stunning spell raced across the back garden and looked like it hit the form on the ground before Bill Weasley shimmered into view, followed by Arthur and then the twins. As they started to spread out, the back door opened and the rest of the family, led by Fleur, Ginny, and Hermione came out. Ron and Molly came last.

Harry led Remus over to the shed where they met the others as Bill cast a spell and a man appeared on the ground.

Bill rolled him over and his face became visible. "Edmund Yaxley, he's Charlie's age."

Harry was so intent at looking at the young man that he almost fell over when Hermione and then Ginny slammed into him as they ran over. "Hey, everyone's fine," he told them quietly. Speaking up, he said, "Check his left forearm." He put an arm around each girl to offer them some comfort and they snuggled closer.

"There's little doubt what we'll find, but you're right to check," Bill said, using a spell to vanish the clothes on the young man's left arm until the arm was bare and they all could see the Dark Mark. Molly gasped at the sight.

"Bill, do you know any good compulsion charms, not including the Imperious? It'd be good to find out what's going on and if his answers match Marcus Flint's," Harry suggested.

"Not like that, but I'm aware of two charms that when used together will make it very hard for him to able to lie to us," Bill answered.

"Perhaps in my shed," Arthur suggested, but in a way that made it a command.

Harry squeezed the shoulders of the two girls and pulled his arms away. "Please go back in the house and let Susan know that I'm here, I'm safe, and I'll be back as soon as I can. OK?"

"That's a good idea. Molly?" Arthur gave her a look that she easily interpreted, probably thinking the same thing.

"Come with me girls. Let's go make some hot drinks. Ginny, you should make that Floo call. Fleur and Hermione, you too." Molly directed.

The two girls with him hugged him quickly and then left with the mother.

When Harry saw the girls safely in the house, he turned and hurried to the door of the shed, closing it since he was the last in.

Bill had the man tied to a chair and cast three spells; the first woke him up and the next two made him wobbly so that he had trouble sitting up straight.

"Why were you here?" Harry asked, since no one else had asked anything.

"To watch for Harry Potter," Yaxley slurred. "I needed to report if he was here or not, but no one would come out of the damn house. It's so cold too."

"It's like he's drunk," Ron said with an amused snort.

"Yes, the first spell lowers his mental defenses so the Compulsion charm to tell the truth has a greater effect. This also won't last long," Bill explained. "Yaxley, what were you to do with the information if Harry Potter was here?"

"Tell my father, of course." Yaxley jerked his head back up again, as if he'd almost nodded off.

"What was your father going to do with the information?" Bill asked.

"Don't know." Yaxley tilted his head up at Bill and looked for a moment before he suddenly fell back and slumped in his chair, looking like he was sleep.

"He'll be unconscious for a few hours," Bill said as he looked at the others. "Now what?"

"I would assume William Yaxley would take that information to You-Know-Who and then we'd be getting a visit," Arthur said slowly, sounding like he was thinking out loud.

"Probably," Lupin agreed.

"What if he couldn't?" Harry asked, starting to have an idea.

"Harry, you can't kill him," Remus said pointedly.

With one eyebrow going up, Harry said, "I can't? I'll let you know that while I'm not bloodthirsty, I don't have any scruples that would prevent me from making trash disappear."

"We could take them and use them for test subjects," George volunteered.

"Good one, but how would we keep them from escaping?" Fred asked.

"Meh, minor details," George shrugged the question off.

"Harry, it seemed you had an idea," Bill said as he looked at their rescuer.

"Well, I've wanted to learn how to do the Obliviate charm, so what if we removed what happened today as well as their memories of being a Death Eater? Wouldn't that make them pretty useless to Voldemort? If I should screw up the charm as I'm learning and remove too much, is that really a problem? After that, we send them to the Ministry through the Floo." Harry looked at the others and saw Fred and George grin first, quickly followed by Ron.

"Yeah, good one," his classmate said and slapped him on the back.

Bill smiled ever so slightly. "You're quite good with the charm because of your job, Dad."

"It is possible, but that would be quite hard to get all of those memories because I'm sure they cover a large span of time which would require a lot of magical power," Arthur explained. "I think removing the last few days will be enough and I have enough magic for that.

"The Obliviation is the simple part," the father said, "the more difficult part is how to get them to the Ministry without them knowing who did this. They can trace where a Floo journey came from. That means we can't send them from our house and we can't go to public place to send them because we don't want to be seen."

They all nodded at the truth of that for a moment and thought some more.

"What about the Goblins?" Ron asked.

Bill shook his head in exasperation. "No, they wouldn't take them and it would be a bad idea to even ask."

"How well does the Fidelius Charm work for something like that?" Harry asked.

"Damn! Brilliant, Harry," Bill said with a smile. "That would look like they appeared out of nowhere."

"Great, so I get to learn the Oblivate Charm and then I can send them through the Floo to the Ministry," Harry said very proud of himself.

"I'll let you transport them, lad, but I think I'll do the Oblivation," Arthur said. "However, there's no reason you can't watch and learn."

Arthur showed him the wand movement, the trigger words, and explained the mental intent behind the spell before he cast it, erasing the last few days of their lives.

Harry then left and returned a few minutes later with Flint, whom Arthur Obliviated as well. When they were done, Arthur Side-Along Apparated Yaxley to the porch of Harry's home on Grimmauld Place while Harry brought Flint.

"Thanks, Mr Weasley. I'll take it from there. The wards are set to keep everyone else out right now and I wouldn't want you to get hurt." Harry hated insinuating that Harry couldn't take him in, but he really didn't want to bring Arthur in at the moment.

Arthur just smiled and didn't seem offended. "I appreciate your help, Harry … greatly. You must return to The Burrow; Molly told me just before we left that she was going to invite the Bones' over for dinner as a thank you."

"Of course, Mr Weasley. Let me send these two through and I'll be back in a few minutes."

Arthur slapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sure we'll have a wonderful evening. I'll see you soon. I'll impress on my children of the need to keep this secret." He Apparated away with Yaxley still unconscious and laying on the porch, which was under the Fidelius but outside the Black wards.

Harry set them both inside the front door so he could close and lock it before he took them to the kitchen, one at a time. Just because he wanted to be thorough, he Oblivated each of them one more time, trying to put as much power into the spell as he could while thinking of the last fifteen years. That should remove their memories of being a Death Eater and probably most of Hogwarts, making them useless as a Death Eater.

Satisfied with it all, he made sure their Dark Mark was plainly visible and then sent them through the Floo Network to the Ministry at the same time. To be sure this was safe; he turned the Floo connection off since he was done.

With a smile, Harry returned to the front porch and Apparated back to The Burrow, where he found Susan and her parents had just arrived. The stories of both houses were told again and Harry said he'd sent the two to the Ministry, leaving out his extra spell work.

He was a little surprised that Susan stayed close to him all evening as if she needed his comfort; she hadn't been in all that much danger, although he supposed the shock of having someone watch her house had shook her up - it had angered him. He was very surprised by the fact that Susan didn't seem to mind the other two girls doing the same on his other side. He always made sure Susan was next to him and let Hermione and Ginny sit on his other side trading places as they wished.

He wasn't surprised that Ron gave him dirty looks as the four of them sat closely on the couch, but Harry was thankful that Ron didn't make a scene over it. He also received thoughtful looks from Vincent, even though nothing was said; on the other hand, Pat didn't look like she was bothered in the slightest.

— — —

Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour rubbed his face again because of the long evening and the strangeness of the situation. "Again, Mr Robards, and perhaps try for a different telling that makes a little more sense."

Head Auror Gawain Robards looked at his notes again and considered them for a moment. "Minister, the simple facts are that two men that we have suspected of being Death Eaters for some time came out of the Floo Network in the Ministry lobby at a little before five this evening. They have been identified as Edmund Yaxley and Marcus Flint. Each was shirtless and each has a Dark Mark on his left forearm. Each had been stunned and bound by magical ropes. Upon examination, each have no detectable memories."

"Are you sure they don't have any memories, not even who they are?" the Minister asked tiredly.

"As before, sir, no, not a single one, not even their own name. I asked the head healer and he said that he couldn't restore them because it would take someone very powerful magically to override the block. As you know, sir, Obliviations can only be overridden and the memories restored by the same caster or by someone who's more powerful magically, a group casting would only cause the patient to go insane as it would essentially shred his mind."

Scrimgeour wave his hand in rolling motion. "Yes, yes, go on."

"Death Eater Flint had both elbows broken. Death Eater Yaxley was under an Intoxication charm, but was otherwise unharmed. In attempting to trace their travel through the Floo Network, we've been unable to find their origination point." Robards looked up from his notes. "That's all the facts sir."

"Humor me and speculate," Scrimgeour said as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Robards set his notes on his lap let his eyes go unfocused as he wove his narrative. "The most likely story is that the two attacked someone, or more likely a family where there were multiple adults present. It's unknown what their mission was, but it went pear-shaped and they were caught after a brief fight, overpowered by superior numbers. In order to protect themselves, the family erased their memories and the most powerful of them used more power than necessary on the Obliviation and probably cast multiple times due to their over-zealousness. The family still has decent morals and didn't want to kill the two, even after being attacked, which means they're not one of the Dark families, so they sent them to us to deal with."

After nearly a minute of silence, the Minister asked, "What did the Unspeakable say about not being to find the origin of the Floo travel?"

"They said there are several known wards that could cause that," Robards replied. "Sir, since the Wizengamot has refused to help us with a law to automatically put people away with _that_ magical tatoo, we'd normally question them carefully to see if we could find some crime to charge them with. However, these two are like newborn babes and we can't get anything out of them. I'll also point out that we won't find out who did this as long as they keep quiet about it. I'd say we just return the two to their families and let them deal with it."

"They won't be happy and will scream bloody murder," the Minister commented.

Robards shrugged. "Let them, they can't really do anything about it. The other obvious story, based on the power put into the Obliviate spell is that it was done personally by You-Know-Who. They can't complain to him if they want to keep on breathing, or that's my read on the situation. I'm going to call it a win in my book for removing two Death Eaters from the war."

"I'd suggest you keep that last thought to yourself although I do agree with it," Scrimgeour said as he opened his eyes and sat back up. "Contact their families and turn the boys over with our condolences. A little sympathy to them might be useful to us later. Also, no statement to the Daily Prophet about this; I don't think that would be good for anyone."

"Yes, sir." Robards rose and left the Minister's office, all the while wondering if they could arrange this sort of 'accident' for other Death Eaters they caught to permanently take them out of the war. As interesting as that was, he wasn't going to say that out loud to anyone one else either.

* * *

It was late and Harry was packing his freshly laundered clothes, getting ready to return to school tomorrow. Other than the exciting few hours when they were dealing with two Death Eater spies, Harry had really enjoyed this holiday. Dealing with Death Eaters was a little too close to being an adventure for his comfort. He could rationalize that it was _not_ an adventure because it hadn't happened or started at school, but it pointed to the fact that the country was in a state of war and he had to be vigilant - constantly. The thought gave him some amusement as he thought of the source of that phrase.

A soft knock sounded on his doorframe caused him to look up; he was surprised, both by the knock and that it was Vincent. "Do you have a moment, Harry?"

"Sure!" As Vincent closed the door, Harry quickly said, "I wanted to tell you thank you for letting me stay here over the holidays. It was brilliant. I really like your family."

"Starting with Susan, I imagine?" the father asked with a wry smile as he took a seat in the one chair in the room and gestured to Harry to have a seat on the bed.

Harry couldn't help his embarrassed look nor his glance down, but he forced himself to look back up. "She is my favorite person here, but you and Pat are wonderful too. I like to think that my parents would have been something like you and your wife."

"I'm really sorry you didn't get to know them, Harry. I can't say I knew them well, having only talked with them for a few short conversations." Vincent sighed. "That's part of the hazard of being older. We didn't know them well in school and they left us so early in life that we didn't have time to get to know them after Hogwarts. A few more years probably would have changed that, but we don't all get to live long lives, as my older brother and sister found out."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Vincent told him compassionately. "I didn't bring that up to make you feel bad, but to show you that I understand your loss."

"So, what are we talking about?" Harry suddenly remembered the closed door and hoped this wasn't a bad conversation.

Vincent smiled and seemed to stare straight through him. "Harry, I wanted you to know that we've enjoyed having you here as well, but I believe we need to talk about the future and if there will be more visits or not. I think you're a good lad and I happen to like you so far, but I care for Susan greatly and as her father it is my obligation to protect her. As I hope you can tell, I take that responsibility very seriously. Please tell me how you feel about Susan and what your intentions are in regards to her."

Harry gulped slightly as he considered the statement and the question. He wondered quickly if his parents would do this to Susan if they were still alive, but he didn't know and wasn't going to ask Vincent's opinion on that. "Uh, well, we like each other, a lot. I mean, I really care for her. I'd also protect her with all I have. She's … she's very special."

"All right, those are your feelings," Vincent said casually. "What are your intentions?"

"My intentions? I can promise you that I'll be the perfect gentleman with her. She has nothing to fear from me," he said all of that as sincerely as he could and he did mean it.

Vincent nodded. "I appreciate hearing that and I do believe you are sincere about that." He shifted in his seat and sighed a bit. "I also have the feeling that this conversation is going astray."

"I think I understand what you're saying and asking," Harry told him, although he did wonder if he was missing something by the way that was said.

"Then what do you believe I'm really asking about?" Vincent looked at him critically.

Harry wasn't sure why he looked so interested in this question and he struggled with that for a moment, almost certain that there was something not being said that he was supposed to know. "You want to make sure that Susan is safe and that I'll behave around her … and I will."

"I have no doubt you will after having talked with you over the holidays and seeing how you defended us last week. However," Vincent looked uncomfortable and shifted in his chair again, "it's becoming obvious to me that I have expectations which are unrealistic. What to do…" He looked at his hands as he tapped his fingertips together lightly.

Harry finally understood that there was in fact more going on here that just what was spoken and that whatever it was eluded him. It was also obvious that he needed to keep his mouth shut and listen, lest he make himself appear even more foolish than just not knowing what was going on.

After a few long moments, Vincent calmed himself and looked up. "Harry, I think the correct course of action is for me to suspend this conversation until this summer. I'll extend the invitation for you return here for one week after the next school term and we'll have this conversation again, but hopefully with you more informed. I would take up the task of your education for your father's sake, but I'm afraid this is not the moment for it, nor will you be readily available for my instruction in the next few months.

"Who is your closest male friend who grew up in the Wizarding World? He doesn't have to be a Pureblood, but I'm sure a Pureblood could help you."

Harry was shocked at the turn of the conversation and simply said, "Ron Weasley."

Vincent shook his head. "The Weasleys are a fine family and Arthur has my respect; but in this case, I don't believe young Mr Ron Weasley would be the person I'd send you to. Who else?"

He blinked still shocked. "Err, Neville Longbottom?"

It took a moment, but Vincent finally smiled. "Yes, I believe Augusta would have trained young Mr Longbottom appropriately despite the unfortunate absence of his parents. In private and in confidence please, convey this conversation to Mr Longbottom and then seek his instruction on the matter and whomever else he believes would help you. Assuming all goes well and I extend the invitation for you stay for all of next summer, I shall finish your tutelage as best as we can."

Vincent stood and held out his hand, which Harry took. "Good luck in your instruction, Mr Potter. I look forward to our next conversation. I also ask that you keep this from Susan, or at least the details. She knows I planned to talk to you. Should she ask about it, I think an appropriate answer is that we're still getting to know one another and discussing things; otherwise, please don't bring this up with her. If she pesters you on it, feel free to say that it is at my request."

"Err, yes sir." Harry still felt lost and he really hoped Neville could explain all of this to him.

"Excellent, I shall let you return to your packing. Have a good evening and I'll see you in the morning at breakfast." Vincent left and closed the door behind him.

Harry sank back down to his bed and ran through the conversation again, to make sure he remembered it when he talked to Neville. He really hoped his friend could clue him in.

* * *

It was a very contemplative Dark Lord who watched two young men be taken away from his presence. He supposed this was a chance to earn a little more loyalty from his followers, especially since it wouldn't cost him anything personally. "Lucius, send 5,000 Galleons to each of their families."

"Yes, my lord."

He had almost been able to reverse the Obliviation, but not quite. That meant the caster was as powerful as he was, and that meant Dumbledore had done it. Why would Dumbledore have done this? What was his game?

His spies in the Ministry had been able to tell him what the Aurors knew, and that the Aurors didn't know what was really going on either. Therefore, since he was sure Dumbledore had done this, which meant that the Order of the Phoenix had been watching both houses, trying to protect Potter again. He also wondered how the young men had been caught and could only assume it was because of negligence on their part.

In the end, he couldn't figure out what Dumbledore's plan was and that was deeply concerning to the Dark Lord. He almost called Snape, but didn't because he wasn't sure exactly how much he could trust the man in this situation.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	10. Explosions

(A/N: I think I've mostly found a new normal after a family emergency, although there are still some after affects I'm dealing with. If you want a bit more detail, see my profile. I'd like to believe I can continue with weekly postings again. FWIW, if I have to have a major delay in posting, I'll try very hard to put a status message at the top of my profile. - Kevin)

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - Explosions**

The next morning, Harry dressed and made sure he was ready to return to Hogwarts. Apparently Vincent had arranged to go into work a little late as he was still home. He was also acting normal, as if their peculiar conversation last night had never happened.

Vincent Apparated the two of them to Platform 9 ¾, where he stuck out his hand. "Have a good term, Harry, and please watch after Susan. Also, please do what you can to prevent her from having any adventures like you told us about."

"Of course, sir. I'll keep the trolls, Dementors, and those sort of things as far away from her as possible. And thank you for letting me stay with you. I really enjoyed it."

"I'm glad you could come," Pat told him and pulled him into a comforting hug. "You're always welcome to stay at our home. Have a good term, dear."

"Thank you, Pat," he told her as Susan gave her father a good-bye hug. He briefly wondered about the mixed messages from the two adults, but he felt asking Susan about it was _not_ the correct action.

Picking up his already lightened trunk, he led the way to the train, helping Susan as needed. Heading to the same cabin as last time, they found Luna already there. She quickly vacated the cabin without a word, stood in the corridor, and watched him with Susan.

Shaking his head at Luna's understanding or maybe expectation, he stepped in and enlarged the cabin as before, also creating the extra bench and table. The girls promptly took their places after Harry put their trunks up on the rack.

The rest of the group came and Harry was disappointed to see Neville arrive with the Weasleys at the end. As the others settled in, he leaned over to Hermione, who was sitting next to him, and asked quietly, "Do we have a meeting on this trip?"

"Yes, but it won't last but a few minutes as they only hand out the patrol schedules for the trip," she replied. After the trip started, Harry went with Hermione and Hannah to the front of the train and found it that it was as she said. He made sure to say hello to Zabini and the others that he knew.

When they returned to their cabin, Harry didn't take his seat, but stood in the doorway and asked, "Neville? Can we talk for a few minutes?"

Ron gave him a look like he thought Harry should have asked him instead, but fortunately, Ron didn't say anything and only scowled.

In the corridor and down a ways so the others couldn't watch them, Harry cast the muffling charm on the two of them. "Neville, I need some help, mate, badly."

Neville looked at him and smirked. "What happened over the holidays? Did her father corner you?"

"Yes! He came to my room last night and asked me about my feelings and intentions towards Susan. I told him I really liked her and that I would treat her well, that I'd never mistreat her." Harry shook his head. "Then he stopped the conversation and said I needed to be better informed and asked me who my friends were that grew up in the Wizarding world. I said Ron and he said Ron wasn't a good choice, but he approved of you. What the bloody hell was going on because it's really obvious I was missing something."

Neville stood there and was grinning at him slightly and looked to be holding a chuckle in. "Ah Harry, I told you before the hols that you needed to learn more traditions. That's why he stopped the conversation; he felt like he was taking advantage of you. Good of him really."

"So what he was really telling me is that I need you to teach me traditions? He did say that if everything worked out he'd teach me what you didn't next summer," said Harry. "So, uh, what was the conversation about?"

With a huge grin, Neville said, "He was asking if you were serious enough about Susan that you intended to ask her to marry you one day."

"What?! Please tell me you're joking!"

"He was basically starting formal marriage negotiations," Neville explained. "I really doubt he expected to complete any marriage contract considering what you told me, and I'd be surprised if the Bones used marriage contracts anyway; but he was checking to see how serious you were about her and if it was leading that way. It's his responsibility to make sure that Susan keeps a good reputation. As long as the relationship is heading that way and everything is proper, I doubt he'll do anything to stop you. But mate, you're going to have to have an answer of yes by next summer or else break it off with her."

"You're serious?!" Harry asked incredulously.

"That's how it's done here with the older families. The Bones family isn't overly conservative like some of the other old families, but they do hold to at least forms of many of the basic traditions. Sort of like the Longbottoms and probably like your father did." Neville shrugged at his ending guess. "Remember, you don't have to have asked her to marry you, but you have to be able to honesty say that you plan to."

Harry slumped against the wall and thought as the train sped down the tracks. "I really wished they'd tell us about this in a class, like a Wizarding version of Muggle Studies."

Neville snorted. "Not likely."

"Why not?" asked Harry.

"Really, Harry, you're such a peasant at times. Knowledge is power, and keeping things like this away from the Muggle-born keeps the Purebloods in power. If they had classes, then all the Muggle-born would figure out how things worked sooner and they don't want that," Neville replied.

Harry considered that for a long moment. "Nev, would you be willing to teach a class on this?"

"What?!" Now it was Neville's turn to be incredulous.

"You know," Harry went on, "like I teach the Defense Study Group, you could teach Wizarding Studies to those of us in Gryffindor who don't know this stuff. That's what, maybe a dozen of us? That can't be too bad." He didn't notice his friend's deer-in-the-headlights look. "You might even get a few of the others to help you, like, I don't know, Parvati probably knows … maybe Katie Bell. There's got to be others."

Neville just blinked at him. "Me teach? Who'd want to listen to me?"

"I would and I'm sure Hermione would too," Harry assured him.

"Maybe," Neville said doubtfully.

"Something else, I keep forgetting to ask, but do you know anything about the Potter estate?" Harry watched his friend blink several times as he switched gears in his mind.

"Uh, a little. I think I've heard it's supposed to be pretty good sized, probably like ours. I also heard the house on it had been heavily damaged in the last war." Neville spread his hands apologetically for not knowing more.

"That would explain why my parents went into hiding, I guess." Harry slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Thanks for sharing even that much. I haven't heard anything about it until last week when someone told me it should exist.

"Do think about the class, Nev. I'd definitely like to be taught some of these things," Harry told him as he took his charm down.

"I'll think about it," Neville said, shaking his head at the thought as they walked back to their cabin.

Walking in, Harry found Ron was asleep and Ginny looked suspiciously innocent acting about it.

"Everything, all right?" Susan asked him quietly.

"Yeah, I just wanted Neville's opinion on a matter." He wasn't sure he should share more and so he didn't. Susan looked like she wanted to ask more, but didn't.

* * *

A week later, Harry had some free time between classes and now knew Flitwick's schedule well enough to know the professor was free now too. The door was answered at his first knock.

"Mr Potter! What a surprise, do come in," the little professor beckoned him.

As he walked in, it was Harry's turn to be surprised. "Professor McGonagall? My apologies for intruding, Professors; I can return later."

"Nonsense," McGonagall said as she rose, "I was about to leave anyway. One thing though, Mr Potter. Mr Longbottom says it was your idea for him to teach a Wizarding Studies class, as it were, but he wouldn't say why. May I inquire?"

"Err, I'm finding that some people are expecting me to already know about Wizarding traditions and it seems hard to find out what they are," Harry explained. "Since Neville grew up in it, then I was hoping he could explain it all to those of us who want to learn."

Flitwick gave her a knowing look. "I've lobbied for the class for years just for that reason."

McGonagall looked a little exasperated. "I know, and you also know that we've been turned down every time we've asked."

"Neville said it was about Pureblood control," Harry offered.

"Politically speaking, he's correct," McGonagall replied.

"Could there be unofficial classes, like an hour one evening a week or on the weekends, sort of like Neville will be doing?" Harry asked.

"Maybe," McGonagall temporized.

"It couldn't be by any professor, Mr Potter, as there might be reprisals against us, but maybe," he looked at McGonagall, "if someone like Augusta Longbottom could be persuaded?"

"Yes, I believe that might work," McGonagall agreed with a thoughtful nod. "She holds no position here nor at the Ministry."

"Exactly," Flitwick said. "I would have suggested Amos and Dee Diggory, but I didn't think we should put him in a difficult position."

"Quite. It is a good idea and I shall work on it and discuss it with the Headmaster, which will be interesting in its own way." She looked at him. "Thank you for the explanation and the idea, Mr Potter. I shall leave you to your desired conversation. Professor Flitwick," she said with a nod as she left.

"Truly a grand idea, Mr Potter," Flitwick said as he beamed his enthusiasm. "Now, what can I help you with?"

"Well, over the holidays I had a few discussions about the last war," he lied slightly, "and I was told that at times Death Eaters would show up disillusioned. I was shown the Human Revealing spell to find them, but I'd like to learn the spell to disillusion myself and to cancel it."

"Yes, a powerful tool to have in your pocket. It's also a tool to be very careful with as you easily be hit by friendly fire if you use it with a group as you can still be partially seen while fighting disillusioned and your friends might not know if it's you or an enemy. However, it's a great way to give yourself an advantage at the beginning." His expression turned stern. "It's also why we don't teach it until literally just before NEWTs, so students don't use it here. You have special circumstances so I will teach it to you now, but I require a promise that you won't use for it unsavory purposes."

Harry understood and was thankful for the man's help. "I understand, Professor, and I promise I won't abuse it. I just want to know so that I can fight those using it against me, and to turn the tables if I must."

"Very good, I think we have an understanding then." Flitwick pulled his wand out. "The motion is very small and minimal. With some experience and a little practice you can reduce it to a tap as you say ' _Abscondo_ '. It doesn't matter if you do it to yourself or someone else, you use the same motion and incantation. To cancel, you tap your wand on the person's head and say ' _Finite Abscondo_ ' instead of the usual Ending spell. Try it."

Harry spend nearly three minutes working on it, including adjusting his intent until he felt the cold feeling running over himself.

"Excellent, Mr Potter," Flitwick said before he conjured a full length mirror. "Look in this and observe. If you stand perfectly still, you can't be seen. Very slow movement is easily missed. If you move quickly then someone can see you partially as a blur."

Harry experimented for a minute or so before he canceled the spell, which he accomplished on the first try. "How long will it last?"

"It depends on the caster's power," the little man said with a grin. "For you, probably all day. For the average person, two or three hours, maybe a little more before the person fades back in as the spell wears off."

"Thank you, Professor. I hope I don't have to use that, but it's good to know," Harry told him, as he considered that with his Invisibility Cloak that he had less use for it than the average person.

"You're welcome, Mr Potter. Please be responsible with it."

"I will and thank you for all of your help." Harry left and considered the spell. Flitwick hadn't forbidden him from teaching others, but it was strongly implied, he thought. Still, perhaps he would teach Susan for her safety. Something to consider.

* * *

Their friends had snickered at them as they left breakfast, the group thinking the couple was going for a romantic walk; but a giddy Susan who was holding Harry's hand knew otherwise. Harry didn't mind, it was fun to see her like this and her good mood was infectious. Walking into the Room of Requirement, he closed and then locked the door.

"It's just a stone room," she said as she looked around, sounding a little disappointed. "I expected more for your training room."

Harry wished for a target, and a wooden stand appeared with several concentric circles on it. "The room gives me what I need and right now it's all made of stone so I don't break anything. Pull out your wand and let's try this."

She complied but also changed to look a little concerned. "I'm not going to hurt you, right?"

"I hope not," he said with a grin. "Aim a Stinging spell at the target, which will be beside me not in front of me."

"Oh, all right, I can do that," she said, looking more comfortable.

Harry brought up the shield he used for the crossbow bolt. He could mostly stop the bolt now, or maybe slow it down enough that it would only give him a slight bruise. As the shield shimmered into place, he said, Fire."

She did and the spell hit the shield and fizzled out on it. "Wow! I'm impressed!"

Harry was happy too. "Try something harder, like a Cutting curse."

Aiming for the center of the target, which was actually a little hard to see through the shield, she cast .

While she was excited that spell was stopped too, Harry was watching the back side of the shield and saw that the point of impact had colored much more than when the Stinging spell had hit. He dropped the shield and considered that for a moment before he brought a new shield up. "A Blasting hex this time."

Susan nodded and cast at the target beside him.

Harry watched the spell hit his shield. It looked like plastic hit with a small hot flame - the shield held briefly before the spell made a hole and took a chunk out of the target. Dropping the shield he looked at the target and was glad that wasn't him.

"Are you all right?!" she asked hurriedly.

"I'm fine," he told her as he walked over to where she was. "Aim at a different spot and cast another Blasting hex, just like that one."

Susan did and they watched a number of chunks of wood be blasted away before walking over and looking. "I'm not sure how much, but your shield did stop a lot of it compared to what happened without a shield. I can see why you want to test."

"Yeah," he agreed slowly looking at it. "I think it stopped something like three-quarters of it; helpful and survivable, but I'd still really prefer not to hit by that."

"Me neither," she agreed whole-heartedly, "nor do I want you to be hit by something like that."

"Let's try again," he said as he walked back over, determined to find a way to make his shield do better. Maybe if he made it thicker, he thought.

— — —

Since they were closer to the Gryffindor tower, they headed there to see if his friends were ready for lunch.

"That was a good practice," he commented, "for both of us."

"It was," she agreed. "Your shield is coming along nicely; it almost stopped my best Blasting hex at the end. I appreciate the help on my metal shield. I had trouble before and now I think I can cast it perfectly every time."

"Honestly, I think a lot of learning spells is just practice. You learn it and then have to do it like twenty times in a row or something," he pointed out to her as the neared Gryffindor Tower.

"You don't seem to be that way," she said.

"Not for all, but for some I do, or I have. It was bloody hard learning the Summoning charm when I did, but I also learned it about six months before everyone else." Harry stopped and gave the password, not caring that Susan knew it as he trusted her.

When they walked in, they saw almost all of his close friends who were waiting on him as promised. "Where's Ron?" he asked the group at large.

"He left a few minutes ago, said he was really hungry and couldn't wait," Hermione said with a slight shake of her head.

Harry could understand what had happened and didn't think too much about it. "All right, let's go then." He turned and led them back out, still holding Susan's hand.

"You have a much better view out the window up here, but I still like our earth-tones on the furniture," she quipped. It was bit of friendly argument between them about the common rooms.

"I'll take the view, thank you," he said with a grin. "The color of the furniture isn't an issue to me, as long as it isn't ugly."

"Hmm, something to keep in mind when decorating our home," she said knowingly.

He looked at her with a bit of shock, since that was the first time she'd said anything like that. However, he was prevented from following up on that conversation because he suddenly heard shouting ahead as they turned a corner. He saw four boys in a tussle and one of them had red hair, one a whitish-blonde, and the last two were significantly larger than the other two.

"Ahh crap!" he exclaimed as he dropped Susan's hand and pulled his wand out as ran forward.

Ron smashed his fist into Malfoy's face, causing blood to fly. Crabbe reached out to grab Ron, but he didn't succeed because Harry's Binding spell hit Crabbe first, causing the large boy to freeze and fall over. Harry's second spell hit Ron and caused him to fall over frozen too. Goyle, realizing what was happening, stopped and looked over at Harry. Malfoy was laying on the floor and groaning as he held his face.

It wasn't until the fight was stopped that Harry realized McGonagall and Snape were hurrying over also. He dreaded the conversation, or really argument, that was to follow; but he also realized it couldn't be avoided.

"Well, it appears Weasley will be leaving us today," drawled Snape.

Feeling overly bold, mostly because of McGonagall's presence, Harry said, "Unless you saw and heard the beginning of the fight, Professor, then if Ron gets that punishment, the other three should too." He knew Snape wouldn't stand for that.

As the man started to object, McGonagall spoke up and prevented his answer. "Quite right, Mr Potter. I do believe that there will be punishment for all." She sounded very disappointed, which was understandable.

Snape decided to put forth his opinion after all and stared at Harry. "I highly doubt Mr Malfoy started this. I'm sure Weasley threw the first punch; he is a hothead."

"It's possible Ron did throw the first punch, but I'm also quite sure Malfoy started the fight, having watched him do this sort of thing many times for the last five and half years," Harry countered.

A throat clearing caused all assembled to turn and see Flitwick doing spells on the three boys on the floor. "Perhaps we should take them to the hospital wing before having the discussion?"

"Yes, yes, quite right," McGonagall said hastily. "We'll each take one. Mr Potter, please follow us." She used her wand to levitate Ron and led the way, leaving Malfoy for Snape, Flitwick took Crabbe, while Goyle walked under his own power.

Harry turned to his friends and saw most were shaking their heads and whispering to whomever was standing next to them. "Susan, I guess I'll have to join you later. Hermione, I think you need to come too."

She started to protest, but finally nodded and whispered to Ginny before she stepped over to him. Ginny went over and stood by Susan and motioned towards the Great Hall, while looking at her brother very contemplatively and also with concern.

They all walked in silence and the professors gave their charges to the school nurse. Crabbe was released from the Body Bind and told to sit on a bed while she looked at the other two. McGonagall released Ron, who still looked angry, but didn't say anything as Flitwick worked on his hand that was injured. Madam Pomfrey worked on Malfoy for a few minutes.

"Mr Malfoy had a broken nose and has a mild concussion. He'll be fine in a few hours," the nurse reported.

"Mr Weasley, can you tell me what happened?" McGonagall queried.

Ron was lightly rubbing his previously injured hand. "I, I'm not totally sure…"

"He's obviously lying," Snape commented softly, but loud enough for everyone heard, including Ron.

The red-head jumped to his feet. "I am _not_ lying, you great greasy git! I just can't remember, but I know he," Ron pointed to Malfoy, "did something. I just can't remember what." Pomfrey helped him back into bed and cast a charm on him that caused him to close his eyes.

"I want him expelled for what he just said," Snape said coldly.

"Professor, curb your temper!" McGonagall commanded hotly. "He was extremely rude and out of line but your reaction was also uncalled for," she added before she turned to the nurse. "Poppy, did Mr Weasley injure his head too?"

The nurse shook her head. "Not that I can find…"

"Then I want him expelled," Snape said again.

"…but it's quite probable he really doesn't remember because of his injury last June," Pomfrey continued with a glare at the Potions professor.

Harry blinked and began to understand and thought he could probably say exactly what had happened, except for the words Malfoy had said. His only question was where was Dumbledore? It was unlike him not to be at an event of this magnitude … unless Dumbledore was out of the castle and Malfoy was told that. He looked at Snape, who of course gave nothing away. He knew he had to speak up.

"Ron has had other memory lapses this year. We do have two other witnesses, assuming they'll tell the truth." Harry shook his head, wondering what would happen to Ron. "However, I can guess as to what happened."

"Mr Goyle, I want the truth," McGonagall said sternly. "What happened to cause the fight?"

"We were waiting for some friends and Weasley walked by and punched Draco," he said slowly. "Said he hated him." Everyone just looked at him.

Harry was fairly certain that wasn't the whole truth. "Really? Let's test that. Professor Flitwick, you're probably the most neutral person here, along with Madam Pomfrey. Would you please conjure some writing utensils and give them to Goyle and Crabbe. You can take Goyle to the other side of the room to write who they were waiting for and Madam Pomfrey can be with Crabbe and he can write down who they were waiting for."

"Oh for the love of Merlin, what a horrendous waste of time," Snape complained, but Flitwick was already conjuring the things to be left with Crabbe.

"I see your point, Mr Potter, and it is a good one." Flitwick led Goyle over and conjured the needed materials over there.

"And it needs to be actual names, not just 'friends'," Harry said, raising his voice a little.

"You want to know if the answers match?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes, Professor. I'm reasonably certain that Goyle didn't tell us the whole truth," Harry told her.

"You've already admitted that Weasley probably threw the first punch," Snape reminded him.

"I did say that, but the reason Ron threw the punch was because Malfoy started the fight by throwing a verbal punch, as it were," Harry explained.

Snape grunted. "A few words are not a good enough reason to start fighting."

Harry smiled and as politely as he could said, "Professor Snape, your own argument from a moment ago would show otherwise, or why did you want Ron expelled for a few words he used about you?" He heard a snort and turned to see Flitwick walking back with Goyle.

"Well reasoned, Mr Potter," Flitwick said, preventing Snape from replying. "Poppy, Mr Crabbe's answer please?"

The nurse handed the piece of parchment over and Flitwick looked at the two written answers. "Mr Goyle says they were waiting on Pansy, while Mr Crabbe says they were waiting on Nott." He looked up. "At this moment, I don't trust anything those two could say about this." He looked over. "Mr Potter, I believe you said you thought you could explain this based on your past experience?"

"Certainly, Professor…"

"Why should we believe Potter?" Snape said with disdain, not appearing to care about interrupting Harry.

"Because he appears to have an idea, is trying to find out what happened, and isn't acting like he's biased," Flitwick said just barely on the side of polite. "Please continue, Mr Potter."

"Thank you, Professor." Harry looked at Hermione, who seemed to be trying to hide behind McGonagall. "Based on my past experience with all parties, I think that by now, it's probably not a secret any longer that Ron is having some difficulties. Whether Malfoy figured that out on his own or was told by someone probably doesn't matter." Harry didn't look at Snape as he figured the man was probably glaring at him.

"However, I've seen many examples of Malfoy finding something he can tease or insult others about and then doing it when no teachers were around. He doesn't do it to have fun; he does it to be cruel and to hurt others.

"So I believe that Malfoy was lying in wait and hoping he'd catch Ron alone. I would guess he's probably been doing that for some time and Ron was always with others, but today he got lucky. Ron was walking alone to the Great Hall and minding his own business; but Malfoy insulted him in a such a way that Ron couldn't ignore it. Sadly, it probably came at a time when Ron was not in his best frame of mind because of his previous injury and he lashed out. Ron may have thrown the first physical punch, but Malfoy started the fight with severe personal insults. If you want verification of Malfoy's past history to do this, I'd remind you that he insulted the Weasleys last year with the intent to get them into trouble and you can ask Hermione about her experiences," Harry concluded.

"Last year was a good example of his bad behavior," McGonagall agreed before she started turning from side to side searching. "Miss Granger, where are you?"

Hermione stepped sideways and now stood by Harry. "I would agree with his guess, Professors. Draco Malfoy has insulted me more times than I can remember, usually telling me that a Mudblood like me should go away and return to my place, that I'll never succeed no matter how hard I try here at Hogwarts." The tremor in her voice supported her angry glare at the unconscious boy. McGonagall didn't look happy to hear that.

"I would agree that expulsion is the wrong punishment here, but if Ron is expelled, then the other three should be also," Harry commented, knowing Snape would never allow Malfoy to be expelled.

"There will be no expulsions, but there is merit to the idea that all four should have the same punishment." When Snape looked to object, McGonagall glared at him and said, "I will take this up with the Headmaster when he returns."

She looked at the two of them. "Mr Potter, Miss Granger, thank you for your help. Please go to dinner."

"I'm glad we could help," he said with a nod of head and turned, leading Hermione away.

"What do you think will happen?" his friend asked when they were walking alone.

Harry took several long moments to consider. "Ron will spend a little time at St Mungo's, beyond that, it's hard to say. I suspect that it may have been time for another of the special potions Ron's been taking and he wasn't as calm as he could have been. Then again, knowing Malfoy, he probably said something that would have caused even a normal Ron to lose control and in his current mood swings, well, we saw the result."

Hermione considered that. "I have to agree." She looked at him for a moment before she smiled. "Despite it being three to one, I think Ron came out on top."

He couldn't help chuckling. Harry also looked around to make sure they were alone before he whispered, "I could have stopped Ron a few seconds sooner, but when I saw he was about to hit Malfoy, I decided to wait. I thought he deserved it."

Her eyes went wide at the admission before she started to giggle and pressed her hands over her mouth to try to stop it.

Harry was pleased with himself for getting her to laugh after all the seriousness.

In the Great Hall, Ginny moved over from beside Susan, who was at the Gryffindor table. "Well?" Ginny asked before his bum had even hit his seat.

"Dumbledore's not here right now, but they'll figure out the punishment when he returns," Harry told her and the rest who were leaning in to hear better. "Ron doesn't remember what happened other than Malfoy did something, Malfoy is out and I wouldn't trust anything he said anyway," the others nodded, even Susan, "and the other two were caught lying and trying to cover it up with half-truths.

"My guess is that Malfoy was lying in wait to catch Ron alone and when he did, he insulted him in a way Ron couldn't ignore and so Ron punched him, which started the physical part of the fight. I think I've convinced McGonagall and Flitwick of that and that Malfoy effectively started the overall fight with a verbal punch. We'll have to see if Dumbledore goes along with that or not," Harry told them as he finished dishing his food and started to eat.

The next morning, Ginny was told that Ron would be spending the next three days at St Mungo's and that would be treated as a suspension for fighting. The three Slytherins were also sent home for three days. All of Harry's friends thought that was probably fair. Harry wondered if that was really Dumbledore's plan or if McGonagall had forced that.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were on patrol. It was the 11pm shift and it was quiet, even with the Map to help.

Hermione looked at him, "What did Ron say when you talked to him this evening?"

Ron had returned this evening, three days after he'd left. Harry knew she was still avoiding their red-headed friend, but it didn't seem to be quite as rabidly as before.

"He's seems to be doing all right, at least all right for him this year. He said they changed his potions and they think that maybe he'd become used to the old ones so they weren't working as well as they had at the beginning." Harry struggled with the next part, but decided to go ahead and say it. "He also said that he's tired of it and just wants to be normal."

Hermione sighed and looked ahead thoughtfully for a moment. "He and Ginny have both suffered loss of control. I think she'll recover some day, but Ron … I don't know what to think."

Harry almost made a sarcastic remark about Hagrid saying that Hogwarts was the safest place because Dumbledore was here, but held it back at the last second. There was no need to say it, even if both of them would agree in the end; it would just get Hermione wound up in a way she didn't need to be.

"Ron also said that McGonagall told him it was his only warning to behave before he lost his Quidditch Captain badge. I'd like to think that will stop a repeat of this, but who can really say," Harry commented and Hermione nodded in agreement.

He looked at the Map again and noticed a moving figure. "Filch is headed this way." He'd barely said that when the man's cat ran around the corner, skidded to a halt, and hissed at them. He pulled out his wand as he rechecked the Map and guessed he'd have enough time.

"What are you doing?" she cried softly, almost hissing herself.

Instead of answering, Harry froze the cat in place and then cast another spell at the feline and then freed her. The cat yowled and took off past them. It had barely cleared the next corner when Filch ran around the previous corner.

Harry had barely put his wand and Map away to be able to stand there and look normal. "If you're looking for Mrs Norris, she almost ran into us before she left and just rounded the next corner," Harry said helpfully as he pointed at said corner.

With a gruff thanks, Filch took off. He no longer questioned them being out, having become used to seeing Harry on patrol.

"What did you do?" Hermione hissed quietly when they were alone again.

"I finished reading Sirius's journal over the holidays. It was a blast at times," he said with a grin. "If you're really nice and promise to keep it safe while you're reading it, I'll let you borrow it."

"Harry!" she growled quietly.

"Anyway," he went on as if she hadn't said anything, "I found out how the Marauder's Map was made, at least the major spells, including how to make things appear on the Map." He pulled it back out and showed it to her. It took a few seconds, but he finally saw his target and pointed.

"Mrs Norris now shows up," she said before looking at him in awe.

"They came up with a spell to make other creatures besides people show up," he explained. "For the cat, they used a spell on the cat's collar. The reason Mrs Norris never showed up before was because during my dad's time here, there was no Mrs Norris but rather a Mrs Nesbit, who did show up on the Map."

"So she's not his first cat?" Hermione asked.

"Nope, and he even used a new collar, which makes me wonder what happened to the cat, like if she was eaten whole or was just buried with the collar." He mentally grinned at teasing her for a brief moment, but was careful to keep a neutral expression. "Whatever, we'll be able to track of her in the future."

Hermione shook her head. "I can't believe they were able to do something so sophisticated all for playing jokes on people."

"To each their own," he said wisely, drawing an exasperated look from her for dismissing the issue so casually.

* * *

It was the last Friday evening in January, about an hour before curfew, and Harry along with almost thirty others were in the Gryffindor common room and pulling couches and chairs into rows. Neville was standing at the side and looking very nervous, so Harry decided to see if he could help.

"Hey, Nev, don't worry about it; you'll do fine," he told his friend.

"But Harry," Neville protested, "there's almost half of all the Gryffindors in here," he practically squeaked.

Harry knew Ginny was here to support Hermione, but he suspected some of the others who grew up in Wizarding homes were here only to see if they'd missed anything or because they thought their parents hadn't told them everything. "They'll be a friendly crowd; you won't have Smith heckling you like I did in the DA. You really will do fine," Harry said and slapped his friend on the back before going to sit by Hermione and Ginny. He was not surprised to see Hermione with a small Muggle notebook and pen.

"Hi everyone," Neville said a minute or so later. "I'm going to talk about the Wizarding world and some things that happen in it, like customs, and traditions. It won't be just me," he gave them another nervous smile. "I think you all know the seventh year Prefects, Gary and Judith." The two stood for a quick moment and waved before sitting back down. "And Parvati will also be helping me." She stood and flashed everyone a bright and cheery smile before sitting back down.

"You won't really find a good book on this; it's really just passed down from generation to generation and it also changes slowly over time too.

"It's important to know not only the traditions, but who you're dealing with because not all families keep all traditions. For example, the Longbottoms are somewhat progressive and tend to keep only about two-thirds of all generally practiced traditions here in Britain, although I'm thinking about dropping one or two when I take control of the family. Gary?"

The male Prefect stood and faced the group. "My family is even more progressive and we only practice about half of them, or probably only a little more."

As he sat, Judith stood. "My family is more conservative than the Longbottoms and we practice at least three-quarters of them, maybe a little more. On the other hand, I think that I'll work to convince my future husband to drop a few and maybe add one my family doesn't presently use."

Parvati stood next. "My family is more like the Longbottoms and observe about two-thirds of them. However, the Patils also still practice a few traditions not found here but as from India. So we have a cultural aspect too."

Neville took control again as she sat. "As you can see, there is no single set of traditions to follow. However, once you stop practicing over half of them, you tend to not be considered influential in the higher social circles which is where many of the more important things in our society are decided."

Gary waved slightly at Neville to get him to pause and stood again. "That is an important point and is why my family continues as they are. We want to be involved otherwise we'd probably drop more of them."

Ginny raised her hand and Neville nodded at her. "Is that why my family is treated like they are?"

Neville looked uncomfortable but answered. "I can't say completely, but it is at least part of the reason from what I know."

"While the Weasleys are well respected, their lack of observing so many traditions is a very large part of why many of the older families don't socialize with them," Judith said. "I'm sorry, but that's the way it is."

"Similarly," Neville said hastily, "when Muggle-borns don't practice and respect the traditions, it also causes issues for them. An example would be being excluded from many of the social functions in our society. That's why we're having this class, to help you fit in better.

"I can also say that another reason you need to know this is because it's how you'll be judged by those who run our society. You don't have to agree with all the traditions, but it's very helpful to understand them. You may also have to use them from time to time, even if you don't like them.

"So, for today," Neville took a deep breath, "I wanted to talk about some of the things that the Wizarding world considers important and why. The first thing I want to talk about is families and relationships within and between families…"

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Neville were walking down the main stairs for the front entrance. Hermione and Ginny were walking a half a dozen steps behind them. Halfway to the Entrance Hall, Luna joined the girls. At the Entrance Hall, they saw a pair of Hufflepuffs waiting for them to go to Hogsmeade for Valentine's day.

Harry grabbed Susan's hand out of habit while he saw Neville slowly grab Hannah's hand and gave her a nervous smile. He couldn't help teasing his friend. "So, finally found your courage, Neville?"

His friend shot him a look. "At least **I** managed to ask my girl," he said sarcastically.

"Ouch," Ron chuckled.

"The result is the same either way," Harry joked back.

"Be nice, both of you," Susan calmly chastised them. "What matters is that we all have a good time today."

"As long as we go to Honeydukes for some sweets and The Three Broomsticks for lunch, I'll have a good time," Ron declared.

"I think we can do that," Harry replied, quite willing so Ron would stay near him and he could make sure Malfoy didn't try anything to get back at his friend. He looked at Susan and smiled while he squeezed her hand. "Thanks," he mouthed at her and she smiled and squeezed his hand back. He really appreciated her understanding and willingness to allow Ron to be around them today.

"How did you do on your Runes test?" his girlfriend asked him.

Harry noticed that Hermione sped up a little in order to hear, so he turned slightly so she could hear. "I did very well on what was the equivalent of the end of third year test. Professor Babbling gave me an Outstanding and said she was pleased." Those around him gave him congratulations as they walked on. "Megan, what about you?"

His classmate smiled. "I received an Exceeds Expectations, which is what I was hoping for. I guess you found the class easier than I did?"

"Maybe, but I'm also very glad we're not going any faster. It's hard to keep up at our current pace and I probably couldn't if we didn't have so much extra time during the day," he explained. "I hope I can use the summer to get ahead."

"I don't think I'd take it if we went any faster," Megan told him.

Hermione touched him on the shoulder. "I'm impressed, Harry. This is a side of you I haven't seen in previous years."

"We all grow up sometime," he joked. "Say, Hermione, Professor Babbling also said that your class recently started on some elementary warding schemes. Can I look at your notes? I saw what was in the book and I'd like to learn a little more about how they are powered and stay up."

"Sure, Harry," Hermione replied. "I'll get them for you when we return."

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was surprised it had taken her nearly three months to convince Augusta Longbottom to agree to help them. She would be forever grateful to Neville for his help in convincing his grandmother and her old friend; she suspected the young man teaching the class now motivated Augusta to show that she could do it too.

Arriving at the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office, she was pleased to see her two friends in this endeavor waiting on her. Giving the password, she led them up. She had barely knocked on the door before she was told to enter.

The old Headmaster raised a single eyebrow at the three heads of house. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this company on this lovely Friday evening?

"Oh, perhaps I should mind my manners first. Tea or a sherbet lemon?" He indicated his candy dish while his wand danced to conjure the tea service before a kettle floated over from the shelf and seemed to heat during its flight since it started to whistle as it settled on his desk. Each helped themselves. The courtesies observed, Dumbledore took a sip of his tea before setting it down.

Minerva took the lead. "Albus, we'd like to broach the topic of a Wizarding Studies class again; however, this time we believe we've come up with a way to do it successfully. While it is a little late to start it this year, we wanted to make sure there was enough time to be able to start it next September."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair and looked at them all. "You seem to be missing someone. Where is Severus in this endeavor?"

"Severus won't care, or so we believe," Sprout told him. "He has no Muggle-born in his house and that's been true for some years. If any Half-bloods in his house wish to come, they would of course be welcome; but we don't believe he would care about this."

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "Quite probably true. As to your request, I don't believe it will be approved."

Minerva sat up a bit straighter as her anger rose, barely held in check. "You haven't even heard our plan yet! It wouldn't even cost the school anything."

"My apologies, Professor," Dumbledore said placatingly. "I was imprecise with my answer. I don't fully believe it's needed nor will it come to pass because of circumstances beyond all of our control."

"Not needed?" McGonagall exclaimed, barely holding her tone in control. "Why would you say that?"

"Because, there is some information that is too dangerous," Dumbledore answered. "I'm sure you're thinking of customs, such as greetings and dances and other innocent matters. If you could limit what was taught to that, I might agree and support you. However, some of the little used traditions can cause great chaos and harm if used improperly, and we both know that those under twenty rarely consider the long term. No, Professor, that is a Pandora's box we dare not open because once you start it's very difficult to stop.

"However, my opinion is of little consequence concerning next year since there are weightier matters that would prevent your class," he told them before taking a sip of his tea.

"Perhaps you could give us a little more detail?" Flitwick prompted a little pointedly in frustration, as McGonagall worked to control her reaction.

"While the future is never certain, I'm afraid our future next fall is even more difficult to predict than normal." Dumbledore briefly held up his blackened hand, which wasn't a secret from any of them. "It is quite possible that I will no longer be Headmaster for our fall term.

"The war is heating up," Dumbledore said heavily, "and it is very possible that the war will cause such changes that the school will suffer great disruption. It is even possible that there will be no classes during the fall term." He looked at his deputy. "Do you believe you can guide the school through that storm, especially if Voldemort himself attempts to dictate the direction of the school, which I believe he will try if I'm not here?"

Minerva steadied herself under his benevolent gaze, but internally she was trying to come to grips with the question he'd asked as she considered the many possibilities. "The security alone could be problematic. Will the Ministry be able to help?"

"Unlikely," Dumbledore replied with regret. "They are doing all they can now to stay in control and a large enough push by Voldemort will probably topple them. I am no longer at my best and yet, as modestly as I can say this, I'm probably all that is allowing them to stay as they are for the moment."

"You paint a dire picture," Flitwick commented.

"I dare say it may be more dire than I paint it and I feel I must tell you. I would have told you soon anyway, but this seems as good a time as any," Dumbledore said off-handedly.

"Why may it be even worse?" Sprout asked.

Dumbledore glanced at her and Minerva had a feeling she was not going to like this answer.

"The main fighter who will win this war has chosen not to fight, and unless he changes his mind, he may doom us all." Dumbledore took another sip of his tea, his casualness belying the seriousness of his statement.

"Mr Potter," Flitwick stated after the barest of pauses. "Albus, it is not his place to fight the war; it is the Ministry's and it is all of ours - the adults, not the children."

"I do wish that were true, Filius ... but I'm afraid I must disagree," the older man said.

Minerva found her courage for this topic. "Albus, Filius is quite correct. This is not Mr Potter's responsibility. Just because you believe some crackpot prophecy does not make it true."

Dumbledore tilted his head ever so slightly as he looked at her and then the others. "So, Mr Potter has shared the prophecy with you. All of you?"

"He has shared it with Minerva and myself," Filius replied. "We have shared the essence of it with Pomona."

"I'm not sure that was wise on his part, but it's done. Nevertheless, I must ask each of you to keep that very secret," Dumbledore ordered in a tone that left no doubt it was an order.

"The part that is unknown to the Dark Lord is not helpful to him," Flitwick argued, "assuming it's even true and I must agree that I doubt it."

"It matters not what we believe. As long as Voldemort believes it then he will make it so," Dumbledore explained.

"What can we do?" Sprout asked.

"Be wary next year; do not make waves and do your best to stay in your positions so that you may protect the students. Above all, protect Harry." Dumbledore looked at each as if trying to extract a promise. "I believe that Harry is capable of defeating Voldemort and he must be given the chance to do so. In addition, anything that you can do that could convince him to fight Voldemort must be done."

"I'm sorry, Albus," Sprout told him and looked very regretful. "I'm afraid I must agree with my colleagues; it is not Mr Potter's responsibility to fight in or to win the war. I will support and protect him as best I can, but it will be his decision to fight or not."

"Then it will be fate that decides whether our society returns to normal and I pray that the price is not too high nor are too many lives lost before he figures out what he must do," Dumbledore said sadly. "While I do not believe Harry can win by strength of wand, magic can help protect him from those under Voldemort. Can I ask each of you to continue teaching him the extras as you have been?"

"I didn't think you knew," Minerva said, but leaving an implied question.

Dumbledore smiled at them. "I've been aware of Harry visiting each of you from time to time and the most obvious reason is for help with extra spells not learned in his classes, and for help with topics he teaches his Defense Study Group. Or that is true for you and Filius." He looked over. "You, Pomona, stepped into a support role more like family, which is something that Harry needs and yet for the good of our world should not have. But alas, I find my thoughts quite mixed on that matter and will leave that part of Harry's life alone."

"What do you mean by that?" Minerva asked, aware this was another area of Harry's life he was manipulating as it fit in with stories Harry had shared.

"It matters not as I have come to realize that I may have been very wrong about a few decisions." Dumbledore sighed. "That is a dark path because once you begin to doubt it is difficult to stop."

Sitting up straighter and leaning forward he said, "The hour is late and that is all the information I have on this topic. Minerva, if you have the opportunity to initiate your class next term, I ask you not to pursue it. In fact, I'd have preferred that Mr Longbottom hadn't taught what little he has; it might create problems for us, but what's done is done.

"With that, I bid you a pleasant evening and a good rest." Dumbledore drained the last of his tea and then picked up his wand and cleaned up the conjured tea set, except for the permanent kettle.

"Thank you for the information, Albus." Minerva led the others out. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at them.

"I can guess your question," Filius said. "I would believe he knows more, but it's very uncertain how much more. As for his advice, his path is not unreasonable given what we know." He looked at the other two.

"No," Minerva agreed slowly, "however, what bothers me is that some of his other decisions had reasonable support, but they turned out badly."

"I'm more disturbed by his opinion that we shouldn't teach about our traditions. I had no idea he was biased in that way." Sprout said sadly.

"Yes," agreed Flitwick, "he seems very much in favor of the status quo. Personally, I don't agree with his concern, but I can see that we won't be able to teach the class next year if Voldemort is directing the Ministry."

"Unfortunately, I agree. We shall have to play it close to the vest and see what happens, as well as consider his advice to protect the students. Good-night." The others echoed her last words before going their own way.

While Minerva now had new insights, as she was sure her colleagues had too, she was disturbed about some of the information. Foremost in her mind was the question of why Albus hadn't started doing something about the war sooner, years sooner. She wished she had known these things years earlier; she was sure she could have made a difference in Harry's life. Secondly, his newly professed biases were disturbing, but perhaps he didn't care to hide them now that his end was nearing.

* * *

Hermione was doing her homework in the common room with Ginny at her table, as usual, when Harry returned from his Tuesday evening Runes class. Unlike normal, Harry returned looking like he'd been caught in a storm of Exploding Snap cards all going off at once, or maybe that he'd travelled through an extremely dirty Floo connection. He had spots of soot all over him and his hair was messier than usual.

"Harry, what happened to you?" she asked with great concern. "And you're late. Did Professor Babbling have to walk you back again?"

He dropped tiredly into a chair at her table and put his overly full looking book bag on the floor. "Yeah, we talked more about warding as we came back. As for my appearance, it's from an experiment gone wrong and yet," his tired expression perked up, "I'll receive an extra five points on my exam in two weeks."

Katie Bell had overheard that, as she sat at the next table, and came over. "How did you earn another five bonus points?" she asked incredulously. "Earning that once is very difficult, twice in one year is unheard of."

"Till now," Ginny muttered, but looked as interested in the story that also drew Judith, the seventh year Prefect over too as she had been revising with Katie.

"Remember the warding notes I borrowed from you a couple of months ago?" he asked and Hermione nodded. "I looked at them and, well, they mostly made sense except for the power sequence, so I started changing it and trying to make it better. After I came up with something that I liked more, I made a small version of my sequence for testing that could protect an area about the size of this table and I showed it to her at the end of class."

"And your wards blew up on you when you tested them," Hermione said as she indicated his disheveled appearance.

"Well, yeah," he said sheepishly.

"How did _that_ earn you such a big bonus?" Katie asked.

"Uhh, you see, Professor Babbling said she'd give me one point for every minute it stayed up while all four of us in the class plus the professor shot spells at it." He looked embarrassed as he added, "I, uh, I guess I didn't have it dumping enough energy because it only worked for about five minutes."

Hermione felt almost faint from surprise and only managed a strangled sounding tone. "You found a new power sequence?" This was a rare event and he was a novice at warding; in fact, his OWL class wouldn't even study warding so he was learning this on his own. How lucky could one person get, she wondered.

"Not really," Harry replied. "I just rearranged existing runes into a new configuration. Professor Babbling was really interested, but it doesn't work very well, so I don't really understand her excitement."

Hermione looked at Katie and Judith, who looked as surprised as she felt. "Err, Harry, maybe she's interested because you've found a new avenue of research. Maybe all you need to do is to work on it and refine it to make the power sequence function correctly."

"She did suggest that," he admitted, "but at the moment, I'm just glad no one got hurt in class. If you'll excuse me, I need to go take a shower, then I'm heading to bed; I'm exhausted. Good-night."

"Good-night, Harry," Hermione echoed, as did the rest of the girls there.

When he was out of sight, Hermione looked at the others, who hadn't moved as they thought about what they'd heard. "He says he's not a prodigy, but he's working on material three years ahead of the rest his class and he's just invented something new," she said in amazement. "I don't think I'm ready to do that."

Katie shook her head. "I don't think anyone in our class could do that; I know I couldn't."

"Me neither," Judith agreed.

"Well," Ginny said with a grin, "if you want someone to do something unexpected in a good way, Harry is the person most likely to do that. He cast a bloody corporeal Patronus when he was thirteen."

All the girls shook their head as they returned to what they had been doing before Harry came in. Hermione wondered if she could convince him to show her his new work and she was not alone in that question. Unbeknownst to her, Professor Babbling had been the first to get in that line, followed by all three other students in his class, with two seventh year Gryffindor students barely behind her.

However, when Hermione asked later, Harry didn't share, because he said he didn't want anyone to get hurt.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	11. Stressful Situations

(A/N: Time to start turning up the heat slowly as we head for the end. There are 8 chapters left after this one.)

* * *

 **Chapter 11 - Stressful Situations**

Harry and Hermione left for their 11pm Saturday night patrol, something they did every week. As normal, once they were out of the tower, Harry pulled out his Map and looked it over. "I don't see anyone out of their area other than the Ravenclaw patrol that's just starting too; looks like another quiet one. I think we should head down towards the entrance." He started at a leisurely stride.

She shrugged and followed his lead as usual while she commented, "I'd like to think everyone has learned their lesson not to be out at this time of night after all these months."

"Yeah, but Malfoy hadn't earlier this year and he's even a sixth year," he joked with her.

"True, but he seems to have finally learned his lesson. When was the last time we caught him? Late January?" She looked thoughtful as she considered it.

Her uncertainty surprised him. "You really don't remember? I thought you didn't forget things."

"Usually not for things I try to remember, but Malfoy's rule breaking isn't something that I think I need to remember," she told with a hint of sarcasm.

"Point," he replied good naturedly.

"Are you ready for your end of term exams? You have only two weeks before they start," she reminded him as they descended to the second floor, still walking slowly.

"Mostly, there are a few spots I think I need to revise a little more, but I think I'm ready for the most part. The work is easier this year than last year and I don't think it's just because that was our OWL year. Maybe I'm finally catching on," he said. Harry considered pulling his Map back out and checking again, but decided there probably wasn't a need. "How about you?"

"I think I'm mostly ready too," she replied. "I wanted to tell you 'thank you' again for asking Neville to teach our Wizarding Studies classes. I've really learned a lot."

"Sure," he replied easily as they rounded another corner, strolling down the middle of the corridor. "I've really liked them too and it's a sha-"

A small area in front of them blurred slightly before a dark red spell suddenly shot towards them. Harry had the presence of mind to shove Hermione to the side and to use a little compressed air to move her faster as he tried to use the motion of shoving her to lunge for the other wall. He hit the stone floor hard but rolled and came up on one knee leaning against the wall and with his wand out. A silent summoning charm on Invisibility Cloaks did nothing so he muttered, " _Homenum_ _Revelio_ ", just as Remus had shown him. Nothing happened in front of him other than a quickly fading 'pitter-patter' sound of feet running.

Feeling that they were probably safe, Harry hurried over to Hermione who was curled in a ball. She at least had her wand out, although she didn't look like she could use it well. "Stay here," he commanded, "I'll be right back. _Fortis Aegis_." A golden and barely translucent shield sprang up in front of her.

Satisfied she'd be reasonably protected if someone was still near, he ran down the corridor in the direction they had been walking and pulled out the Marauder's Map as he ran. He was very glad that it wasn't damaged even if Sirius's journal gave him the instructions for making one. Activating the Map, and stopping as he came to the main staircase, he saw the little footsteps of Draco Malfoy on the Map fleeing. He would have given chase, but the person was too far ahead and already out of line of sight, preventing immediate retaliation.

Angry with himself for letting himself be surprised, he turned the Map off and hurried back to his patrol partner. It wasn't hard to guess at least part of what had happened. Malfoy had either found Zabini's patrol schedule or asked Snape what the schedule was and lain in wait for them as he'd done something similar to Ron a few months back. Added to that, Harry had been careless and hadn't checked the Map since the start of the patrol, plus he'd starting walking the same routes. In short, he had become predictable and hadn't been vigilant.

When he reached her, he saw that she was at least looking his direction even if she was still curled up. He removed the shield he'd left her and knelt down, feeling a twinge in his side. He assumed he'd pulled something as he'd lunged out of the way of what had appeared to be a Cutting curse.

"Hermione," he called gently. He stroked her hair and she looked at him. "It's safe now; I promise."

She uncurled about half-way and looked around. "Who did it, Harry? Why did they do it? Why do they want to kill me?" She burst into tears with the last question.

Harry pulled her to him and considered if her questions were rhetorical or if he needed to answer. As she held him tightly for security, he decided he needed to say something. "I don't know why someone did it, but the most important thing is that you're safe."

After crying for a minute, she sniffled and then pulled back and with a shaky effort tried to stand up, with help from Harry. When she was up and standing on her own, she noticed that her left hand was wet and red. "Harry?" She held out her hand and looked at it franticly while checking herself out before jerking her head up and looking at him. "It's not me, it's you."

Looking down, he realized there was a large cut in his robes. Unbuttoning the front and pulling them back, he saw another cut about half the size in his shirt and the edges of it were dark red and the stain was spreading down. "Ah crap," he muttered as he realized why he'd felt something wrong in his side a moment ago. In fact, now that he knew what had happened, it was starting to really sting and throb.

Hermione grabbed his robes in a bunch and pressed it to his side. "Hold that there and let's go to the hospital wing."

He really didn't want to report this, but he knew he was going to have to get this injury fixed and answer at least a few questions. He didn't want to answer questions because his little war had just become very personal, much like his fight last year with Umbridge. The difference now was that he could do something about this and not have it tracked back to him. It also restarted thoughts about the war in general and made him start to reevaluate his stance on it. Perhaps he would have to get a little involved … maybe.

Hermione knocked on the nurse's door, which was answered a few seconds later. The matron was in a dressing gown and had her wand. "Miss Granger, what seems to be the matter? Can't sleep?"

Harry stepped into her vision instead of standing beside the door. "I'm afraid it's me, Madam Pomfrey. Sorry to be a bother, but a bit of trouble found me." He walked passed her and sat on a bed but kept pressing his torn robes to his side.

The woman turned up the lights, which indicated no one else was there and trying to sleep. "What's the matter, Mr Potter? Why are you holding your side like that?"

"It's bleeding," he replied calmly, knowing getting excited wouldn't do any good.

She gave him a strange look and turned to his partner. "Miss Granger, perhaps you could explain and make some sense? Or is he in shock?"

Hermione sucked her lip in for a moment before she said, "We were patrolling and someone shot a hex at us. Harry saved me but got hit with it; that's why he's bleeding."

"I see," the nurse said. "Please lie down on the bed and lie on your good side. That's it, put the cut on the top," she told him as he complied. She pulled his compress back and then lifted his shirt to see a bloody line on him. Her frown compressed and she asked in clipped tones as she waved her wand over his injury, "Do you know who did this?"

"I didn't see the person, but the list of people who not only could but would do this is a very short list," he replied as she used a spell on him which caused him to feel cool and then nothing in his cut. "Thank you for the Numbing charm. It didn't hurt that bad, but I still appreciate it."

The nurse nodded as she slowly moved her wand, almost as if she was knitting. The cut began to slowly close up. When she was done, she performed a very mild cleaning charm to remove the blood and they could all see a dark pink line, but it otherwise looked healed. "Wait here," she said as she turned and walked away.

Hermione picked up his robes and a little woodenly cleaned them and repaired them. She did the same to his shirt before setting them down next to him, hanging her head.

Harry noticed she seemed to be wringing her hands slowly as they waited, so he sat up and grasped one of her hands with one of his. "Hey…"

The nurse took that moment to return and opened a short wide mouth jar. "Back on your side please, Mr Potter." It didn't take her long to smear some cream on his newly healed cut. "Take this and apply it three times a day starting tomorrow morning and come see me before dinner on Monday. I should keep you here and would, but tomorrow is Sunday and a day you can rest in your house as well as you can here. No Quidditch, no fighting or rough-housing, or anything else to strain that. If you see any coloration or especially bleeding, you are to come find me at once. Do you promise to take it easy tomorrow, Mr Potter or shall I keep you here?" She held out the jar to him.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey. I promise I'll sit around and heal tomorrow, and as much as I can on Monday," he told her solemnly as he took the jar.

She looked like she wasn't happy with the part he tagged onto the end and turned to his companion. "Miss Granger?"

"I promise to make sure he takes it easy through Monday and I'll tell Susan so she'll help me," Hermione said with a stern look at Harry.

"Very good then. Here," the nurse gave Hermione a note. "You shouldn't need that but just in case."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said and Harry echoed her.

"Err, Madam Pomfrey, can I ask you a personal question?" he asked as he carefully put his shirt back on with a little help from Hermione.

"You may ask," she said politely, implying she might or might not answer.

"Now that the Wizarding world is at war again, what do you believe should be done to Death Eaters who commit crimes? Is locking them in prison enough or should we do more?" He very carefully started to put his robes back on and Hermione hurried to help him and the nurse even tugged on one sleeve when he had trouble moving his arm correctly to put it in his sleeve without hurting himself.

"It is a difficult question, Mr Potter. If I may use an analogy?" the woman asked and Harry nodded. "I ask myself what to do as I consider how to treat each injury brought to me. Most cases can be healed and will recover if the injury is set to the side and protected. A few injuries are so severe that the only course left to me is to cut out the damage or otherwise remove it in order to save the patient.

"Obviously, no analogy is perfect, but that is the best answer I can give you. Does that help?" she asked as she looked him in the eyes.

He could see her sincerity and thought he could understand her answer. While she tried to save those she could, there were times it wasn't possible to save some. He supposed she was saying he'd have to make up his mind if the Death Eaters were so damaged they couldn't be saved, and if their existence damaged the Wizarding world.

"I think so. It's not a plain answer, but that did jump to the heart of the problem and it gives me something to consider. Thank you again and good night," he told her with a nod before leading his friend back towards the Gryffindor Tower.

As soon as they were out of the hospital wing, Hermione stepped around to his good left side put her arm around his shoulder as he needed steadying. "How can you be so calm?" she asked hurriedly, rushing her words so much they sounded a little frantic. "We were almost killed and we didn't even see who it was."

"I can be calm because we're both alive and, despite my now healed cut, not really injured." He looked over at her to see her watching him intently. "I also learned last year that walking around in anger doesn't help in most situations."

"You're not angry?" she asked incredulously.

"Oh, you can be sure that I'm plenty angry on the inside, but having a tantrum like I did far too often last year doesn't help. I will control it and use it to my advantage - somehow." He already had plans churning in his mind. He'd mostly tossed out the more violent ones, but he didn't forget them in case they were needed. He really wanted to consider Madam Pomfrey's thoughts some more, probably tomorrow while he was "resting".

They turned a corner and almost ran into Snape, who narrowed his eyes at them as he looked them over. "It is well after midnight so this deserves punishment," he said menacingly despite the soft tone.

"We were in the hospital wing; Madam Pomfrey can vouch for us," Harry said evenly, having to work hard to hold his anger in at the next injustice of the evening.

"I have a note," Hermione said hurriedly and produced it.

Snape snatched it from her hand and looked it over for a moment before he crumpled it. "This doesn't look like her writing; therefore it must be a forgery. That will be fifty points from Gryffindor - each - and detention with me tomorrow night for both of you. I have a number of my larger caldrons that need cleaning and moved."

"But, Harry can't do that with his injury!" Hermione cried.

"That will be another twenty-five points, Miss Granger, and another detention," he said sharply with a look that dared either of them to protest.

Harry knew they could not win against him now unless Harry did something so drastic that he would probably be expelled, so he merely said, "As you wish, Professor. Come Hermione." He pulled the glaring girl to him so they could walk around the man only to have Professor McGonagall seemingly rise out of the floor. As Hermione gasped in surprise, Harry realized how easy it was to miss cats in an area that wasn't well lit.

The head Gryffindor waved her wand without a word and the crumpled note flew to her, surprising Snape. Prying it open, she read it while Snape gave her a look that wished her dead. "That will be 150 points to Gryffindor for showing restraint when provoked and the detentions are cancelled. Please continue to your dorms." She handed the note to Hermione before she added, "Professor Snape, I believe we have a meeting with the Headmaster in a few minutes."

"At this hour?" Harry heard the potions professor ask as the two students walked away.

"Yes, I think the time will make it that much more interesting."

Harry smiled to himself. He'd have to thank his head of house later in a special way, perhaps some chocolates. She was really standing up for him.

"That was really lucky she was there," Hermione whispered as they climbed the stairs, the entrance to the tower in easy sight.

"It might have been luck, or perhaps someone told her I was injured and to keep an eye out for me," he commented. "I'm not sure it'd be polite to ask, but I will thank her."

— — —

Before she left him, Hermione gave Harry a tight hug around the neck to protect his side. "Thank you for saving me yet again, Harry, and I'm so sorry you got hurt," she said with a hitch in her voice she couldn't fully control.

"I'll be fine, Hermione," he told her and she drank in his soothing voice like someone dying of thirst.

Kissing his cheek, she turned and dashed up the stairs to the girls' dorms and somehow managing to keep her emotions bottled up just a little longer. By the time she entered the room for the sixth year girls, she was half undressed, then down to only her knickers by the time she reached her dresser. Grabbing an oversized T-shirt, she threw it on hurriedly before she practically jumped into her bed and all but landed on Ginny.

"Hey, watch it!" Ginny hissed sharply as Hermione seemed to dissolve into tears. Instantly contrite as she realized something monumental had happened on patrol, she grabbed her best friend and pulled her to her, folding the brunette's head down to her shoulder and holding on tightly, slowly stroking her head and back. When she could, she found a wand and shot a silencing spell at their curtains and around the bed as a whole.

It seemed to be well over half an hour before Hermione regained control and only whimpered occasionally.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Ginny asked as gently as she could. Between the occasional whimper and swallowed words, Hermione explained about almost being killed, Harry being hurt, and then Snape's treatment. Ginny knew she'd need to get Harry alone tomorrow to get all of the details, and frankly, perhaps some corrections as parts seemed almost too fantastic to believe. However, at the moment, about all she could do was comfort her friend as Hermione had done for her before.

After long enough that Ginny thought Hermione had gone to sleep, she heard her name called very softly. "Yes?" she answered.

"I shouldn't be a Gryffindor. I thought I was brave, but I'm not. I just want to go home," Hermione whispered, her voice breaking before she started to sniffle again.

Ginny squeezed her with both arms. "Don't worry about that tonight, I'm sure you'll feel better tomorrow morning."

"It's over too," Hermione whispered hoarsely now from her crying.

"What's over?" Ginny asked, thinking that phrase could apply to several things, but really hoped her best friend didn't mean she wanted to leave the Wizarding world.

"Harry. He'll always be my friend, but I know now we can't be together. I can't live this way for years to come. It's always going to be this way with Harry," Hermione started crying again.

Ginny patted her friend's back. She hated whatever trauma her friend had endured tonight, but she was glad that Hermione had finally admitted that friendship was all she should have with Harry. Ginny knew it had been as hard for the girl to decide that as it had been for Ginny, but it was a good decision for both of them. Sure, she still had the occasional fantasy about being with Harry, like most other girls in the school did according to the rumors; but Ginny was realistic enough now to know that would never happen, so she wished Harry and Susan well. Hermione would eventually reach that conclusion too and that part of her heart would heal - finally.

Still, she'd have to talk to Harry about what had happened tonight.

* * *

Harry was using the mirror in the bathroom to make sure he put the cream on all of his wound when Ron walked in.

"Whoa, mate! What happened to you?"

Looking at Ron, Harry considered his response. In many ways he'd hoped his telling the story could have been avoided, but it appeared that wouldn't happen now. "Had a little trouble on patrol last night. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."

Before Ron could answer, Neville and Dean walked in and saw the red line on him too. Harry just closed his eyes and sighed for a moment. This was not going anywhere near like what he wanted. "I'll explain later," he said to no one in particular before he walked out.

Picking out a loose shirt, he started to put it on and felt a slight pulling in his side. Annoyed at the inconvenience, he waited a moment until Ron came out of the bathroom. "Err, Ron, a hand if you please?"

"What? Oh, right." Ron helped him with the arm of his shirt that Harry was having trouble with. "Need help getting Malfoy back?"

Harry blinked and did his best to keep his expression blank. "What?"

"Malfoy, he must have been the one." Ron looked away and settled into a faraway look. "We'll get him good," he almost purred while his fists were clenching and unclenching.

When Ron looked back at him a moment later, he was now smiling in another apparent personality swing. "Come on, Harry, let's go get breakfast."

As he walked to the door, Neville came into view (having been behind Ron) and Harry could see him slowly putting his wand away, probably after sending a calming charm at his friend. Harry mouthed "thanks" and left to go downstairs.

"Go ahead, Ron, we'll be behind you in a moment," Harry heard Ginny say. As Ron started off with Harry after him, Ginny and Hermione stepped in next to him, as they'd done many times this year. However, this time she also whispered, "We have to talk after breakfast."

It wasn't hard to guess what had happened. Hermione must have said something to her last night and now Ginny felt the need to know. Looking back at Hermione's reaction last night, he now realized she had been bothered by it all more than he had thought at the time. "All right," was all that he said and that satisfied her enough she didn't say anything else during their journey. However, in the Great Hall, Ginny steered him to the end of the Gryffindor table, causing Susan to have to come over.

"Is something wrong?" his girlfriend asked.

"Err, it seems I've been _requested_ to sit here this morning," Harry said vaguely, causing Susan to look at him strangely.

Hermione whispered in Ginny's ear before the redhead said, "Please join us, Susan; Hermione says you probably need to hear this too."

"Oh?" Susan sat down, but not before accidentally bumping Harry, her elbow hitting his wound directly and causing him to hiss. "What?" she asked him in concern as she looked him over.

"Please don't bump my side and I'll tell you after breakfast," he said quietly.

"Why not during breakfast?" Dean asked, joining them as he did from time to time and drawn today by the scent of a good story after the incident in his dorm room.

Harry sighed before realizing he had been doing that a lot this morning. "I swear, I'd obliviate all of you if I didn't think that was wrong. Please, no more until after breakfast." Several shot him a dirty look, but they kept quiet. He ate in silence as he looked around, especially at the Slytherin table as a new idea started to take shape.

As Harry and those around him finished breakfast, Professor McGonagall walked over to him. "A moment of your time, if you please."

Harry gave a smirk as the exasperated looks of his fellow students who knew they'd have to wait even longer to get the story out of him.

She led him outside into the cool morning air and to where they could be alone. Despite no one else being present, she put up a privacy charm. "Mr Potter, I was informed by Madam Pomfrey that you were attacked last evening. Please tell me about it."

"I'm afraid there's not much to tell, Professor," he started. "Hermione and I were patrolling in the eleven o'clock hour. Near the end of our shift we were on the second floor when a Cutting curse was fired at us from close range from out of nowhere. I managed to push Hermione to the side and she wasn't hit. After I made sure she wasn't injured, I ran in the direction of the footsteps I heard running away from me. However, I lost him or her. It wasn't until I went back to check on Hermione that she discovered I'd been hit by the curse. It was a light wound that Madam Pomfrey fixed in her usual quick manner."

"I see," McGonagall said slowly as she thought about it. "And you didn't see anything of the attacker?"

"No, Professor, I didn't see anyone - I think it was the Disillusionment charm," he answered, wishing he didn't have to misdirect her, but he was doing this for his and everyone else's good, or he thought it was good if he could get rid of Malfoy by the end of the year. "However, the list of suspects is very small."

"Oh?" she sounded very surprised. "Who's on your list and why would you put them there?"

"Professor, first, it has to be someone who hates Hermione or myself, not doesn't like or is envious of, but hates in order to use a curse of that magnitude and to lie in wait to do the deed. Second, it will have to be a sixth or seventh year student because of the Cutting curse and because the person was Disillusioned. When you put those two qualifications together, the list only has only about two or three students and one professor on it." He waited for the explosion and was not disappointed.

"A professor?! Surely you're not serious, Mr Potter," she gasped and stood a little straighter. "I'm well aware of his dislike towards you, but this would cross a line no professor should."

"You do remember what he tried to do last night?" As she relaxed her posture, which he took as acknowledgement of his point, he added, "I do thank you for being present and for standing up for us last night.

"To be honest, I don't believe he did it, at least not personally. However," he looked at her just as serious as she looked, "I'm very willing to believe he helped one of his students do this. As Professor Flitwick told me, the Disillusionment charm is not taught until just before NEWTs and he further told me it'd be another week before this year's group is taught. So Professor Snape probably didn't shoot a cutting hex at me personally, but I could believe he taught the Disillusionment charm to someone sooner than school guidelines called for, making him an accomplice."

McGonagall didn't look happy hearing that, but she didn't refute it either. "What will you do about this, Mr Potter, since according to your own statement you're having to guess about this?"

"For the moment, I'm just keeping my ears open because the prime suspect likes to brag. Beyond that," he shrugged, "I'll be sure and let you know if I find out who it is. I'd like to see the person expelled."

"I'm glad you won't be doing anything in revenge, I'd hate to see _you_ expelled, Mr Potter," she told him sincerely.

"I have no plans to be expelled, Professor," he told her while thinking they wouldn't be able to prove it was him. "Was there anything else?"

"No, Mr Potter, thank you for answering my questions. I shall continue to keep an eye out for you also." McGonagall took her wand out to take the privacy spell down, but Harry stopped her.

"Professor, I have a question for you before I go."

"Of course, Mr Potter. How can I help you?"

"It's about my family." He took a deep breath. "I understand there is a Potter Estate. Did you ever go there and do you know where it is?"

McGonagall's smile faltered for a moment before she recovered and put a hand on his shoulder. "I suspect the information is in your family vault, but I could take you there this afternoon for a few minutes if you'd like."

"You could?" He was amazed she'd not only do this but do it so quickly.

"It would be only you, Mr Potter, and we won't stay long, but at least you'll know where it is so you can visit during the summer," she told him. "Meet me by the front door after lunch."

"Thank you, Professor!" Harry gushed in excitement before he returned to his friends.

He had barely stepped back into the Great Hall when his arm was taken by Susan and he was led away with a small crowd following, consisting mostly Gryffindors along with one fifth year Ravenclaw and three more Hufflepuffs.

Harry sighed yet again that morning as they went into a room and the door was closed. "Look," he said quickly, trying to get a jump on what could become a long questioning session if he didn't stop it. "The facts are very simple. Hermione and I were patrolling last night and someone attacked us with a Cutting curse. Hermione wasn't hit and I was only hit lightly. Madam Pomfrey fixed me and I'll be fine in a day, she said. I didn't see the attacker, so there's not much the teachers can do except listen for rumors to see if anyone brags at it.

"I ask all of you not to say anything about this," with great difficulty he refrained from looking at Parvati and Lavender. "There's nothing you can really do about this other than to be constantly vigilant." He looked at Ginny and gave her a knowing look; she returned a barely noticeable nod to indicate she understood he couldn't tell her the details with everyone else here but he would tell her later.

A few sniggered at his reference to Moody, but Ron just rolled his eyes. "Come on, Harry, you know it's Malfoy."

"I didn't see the attacker and this is all I plan to say about the incident unless someone gets caught," Harry said firmly.

"But what about-"

"Ron! Shut it!" The room went deathly silent. "There's nothing more to say." Harry grabbed Susan's hand and hurried out of the room, practically dragging her, he walked so quickly, leaving a red-faced Ron behind.

As he led her outside and finally slowed down to a more normal pace, Susan softly said, "He was just trying to be helpful."

Harry leaned against the wall and sighed yet again. "Yeah, he probably thought he was and I probably owe him an apology, but there was nothing he could have said that was helpful and it was quite possible he was about to say something I didn't want said."

"He still might have after we left," she commented hesitantly.

"I know, but I'm hoping Hermione or Ginny would have stopped him."

Susan looked at him for a long moment. "You know who did it, don't you? You used the Map and that's what you didn't want Ron to say, isn't it?"

Harry looked at her and debated with himself, but it was over in a fraction of a second; he really couldn't keep anything from her now, at least if she asked. "Yes, I used the Map and I know. I won't kill him despite the fact that he tried to kill me, but he's going to become very uncomfortable soon."

"Who?" she asked softly and stepped right next to him, their heads almost touching.

"Malfoy," he confirmed with a whisper.

She kissed his cheek before she pulled back. "Thank you for trusting me. Does Hermione know?"

"I haven't told her, but I won't be surprised if she figures it out. As I explained to McGonagall, the number of people in the castle who don't like either of us enough to do that and can do the Disillusionment charm is no more than two or three students and perhaps one professor."

Susan looked at him with wide eyes and then giggled. "I bet McGonagall didn't take that last one well."

He grinned at her. "No, but I pointed out that I doubt he really did it, but it is possible that he coached the attacker on how to do the Disillusionment charm, which would make him an accomplice. I can't prove that just like I can't prove who the attacker was, but she didn't argue that Snape could have helped to teach the spell and then didn't ask why the person wanted to know.

"Also, you should know that when Hermione and I were returning from the hospital wing, that Snape just happened to find us and when Hermione gave him a note from Pomfrey to show we had seen the nurse, he claimed it was a forgery and gave us detention and took a large number of points. Fortunately, McGonagall had snuck up on us all and heard the whole thing and reversed it." He chuckled lightly. "She then said they had a meeting with the Headmaster, even if it was after midnight." He watched her shake her head in amazement for a moment before she turned serious.

"So what will you do?" she pressed.

"I'm not totally sure yet," he answered. "I have a few ideas. I really do hope he brags about it. I would like to see him expelled."

"Please be careful." She kissed him lightly. "You make an acceptable boyfriend and I'd like to keep you around," she finished with a teasing look.

"Just acceptable?" he shot back just as teasingly. "I shall have to step up my game then." He pulled her to him and kissed her soundly. She didn't protest at all.

— — —

After lunch, Harry pulled Susan to the side. "I need to leave for a while. McGonagall is going to show me the Potter Estate. She said it won't be for long and that it's only for me. I promise I'll take you there this summer."

She smiled and then gave him a hug. "I'm happy for you to learn about this, Harry. I can wait to see it, and maybe I can show you Bones Estate this summer." She turned a little sad. "It's not what it used to be, but I still find it special."

"It's a deal," he told her. "There's McGonagall, I have to go. I'll find you later."

"I'll be revising in the library," she told him and left him after a light kiss.

He caught up with his professor at the front door and they walked towards the gates. "If I may ask, how do you know about Potter Estate?"

McGonagall looked at him for a moment and then smiled ever so slightly. "While was I an acquaintance of your grandparents, they were about ten years older than I am so you can see that they had your father fairly late in life, I visited them several times in my capacity as Head of Gryffindor."

Harry blinked at her as her meaning became clear after a moment. "Err, my father had that much difficulty in school?"

Her smile grew slightly. "Most of his mischievousness was handled in the normal means. No, Mr Potter, I visited them when I found your father had completed his Animagus transformation. It was quite unheard of to be done by the end of fourth year and without a mentor such as myself. I visited them to arrange times for me to work with such a Transfiguration prodigy.

"However," she continued and her expression grew stern, "I did have to visit them for discipline reasons at the end of fifth year when he and Mr Black nearly killed Severus Snape."

"Oh," Harry said, suddenly understanding. "I did hear that they lured him to the Shrieking Shack on the wrong night. Sirius told me; said it wasn't one of his better pranks."

"I should think not," she said frostily. "Mr Black was almost expelled. I also believe that was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused his family to tell him not to come back. My visit was also to request that your grandfather take him in, but your grandfather had already done that before I arrived.

"Your father saved Professor Snape that night. That was another issue that created problems between them despite that you'd think the opposite would be true." She gave him a look. "I won't say that near-death incident drove Severus Snape to become a Death Eater, but it certainly didn't help."

As they passed the gate, McGonagall stopped and took his arm. "Since you know how to Apparate on your own, this will feel strange, but please do not fight it."

He had barely nodded before he felt the Apparation, and it did feel strange. When they landed, they were outside of a set of gates that had been wrecked. In the distance over the slightly rolling land was a large black spot with small piles of rocks around it.

McGonagall walked forward and Harry followed, looking around. "I don't see anything other than that big black spot and rocks."

She nodded. "If you go beyond that spot, you'll see some smaller black spots that were the outbuildings. The large one was the manor house. The Death Eaters found it, broke down the wards, and then burned it - most likely with Fiendfyre; nothing has grown back since."

"What about the rocks?" he asked.

"What's left of the fireplaces and outer walls. Obviously, they caused other destruction on the walls to accomplish all of this," she answered. "There might be a few other worthless things, but it was otherwise all destroyed. It is my understanding that this is where your parents had their next to last battle with V… Riddle. I'm told they killed several Death Eaters and your mother lightly wounded Riddle before they had to flee for their lives. It was why they went into hiding." She paused. "Or so I always thought, but now that I know about the prophecy, I suppose they hid for both reasons."

Harry looked around where the house had been. There was little to see. As he was about to go, he saw a fork that was so blackened he'd almost missed it. He picked it up and showed it to her.

"Yes, this was part of your family's formal silver. There's the family crest in miniature," she pointed out.

He put it in his pocket as he looked around one last time, seeing one of the smaller black spots now as well as acres of knee-high grass before the low hills and woods started. "Thank you for showing me, Professor."

"It was my pleasure," she told him. "We should be returning. As you can probably feel, there are no wards here so we can leave directly for the Hogwart's gates. After you, Mr Potter."

Harry nodded and then left. She arrived seconds later and they started walking back to the school.

"Where would I get more information about it?" he asked.

McGonagall considered that for a moment as they walked. "I would suggest your family vaults would be a good place to start looking. Beyond that, the Hall of Records at the Ministry would have at least a map to show you the boundaries of the land, perhaps a little more if you're lucky."

Harry thanked her again as he made his way to the library. He was happy he knew a little more about his family. He'd do more research on them this summer.

* * *

It was Thursday evening and five nights since the attack. Harry had been consistently eating dinner at the Hufflepuff table, sitting facing the Slytherins as normal. Neville was sitting with him and beside Hannah this evening, as was becoming more common. Harry could have executed his plan last Sunday evening, but he wanted some time to pass between the incidents. More importantly, he was waiting for the perfect setup, which hadn't happened yet.

He was starting to think tonight wasn't going to be the special night either, as Snape wasn't at dinner, when the man finally strode into the Great Hall. Harry had no idea why he was late, but it actually worked to his advantage. Purposefully, he took a drink from his goblet before setting it down. Then careful with the timing, he grabbed the pitcher of juice with both hands as he struck.

As Harry was dealing with his juice, Malfoy was suddenly falling off of his bench in front of Snape while the teacher was covering his crotch with his left hand while struggling to stay upright with his right hand on the wall to steady himself. The man's strange behavior and sudden groan silenced the hall and drew the gaze of everyone.

Professor Vector was the first to regain control of herself and hurried out of her chair and down the platform to help the man. Dumbledore followed quickly, as did McGonagall and Flitwick.

The students all gawked for a few seconds before fierce whispering started, followed soon by giggles, chuckles, and soft laughter. A stern stare from the Deputy Headmaster stopped everything but the whispering.

Neville leaned over to Harry. "Did you see that? It looked like Malfoy attacked Snape?"

"Well, yeah, it did." Harry replied in as surprised voice as he could find. "Why would he?"

"Some cunning Slytherin plot?" joked Neville. "I don't know, mate."

Susan tapped him on the shoulder so he turned that way to see her with one raised eyebrow. He gave her a smile and said, "Whatever happened, I'm sure he deserved it." She nodded once before finishing dinner while watching the scene on the other side of the Slytherin table, as everyone else was doing.

— — —

Poppy Pomfrey did one last spell to reduce the swelling. As she finished, the Headmaster walked into her domain with a black basin in his hand. Being very interested, as were all the heads of house whom were present, she stepped back to an inconspicuous position and watched.

"Here it is, as you requested," Dumbledore said as he conjured a small pedestal and set the Pensieve on it."

Snape used his wand to withdraw a memory and deposit it in the bowl. "I tell you, Potter did something and I'll prove it."

Everyone watched as Dumbledore started the memory playing, the scene rising and displaying over the bowl. They saw it all from the point of view that Snape had as he walked in. As he neared Malfoy, who was reaching for the meat platter with his fork, they all leaned closer. All quite suddenly, Malfoy seemed to twist in his seat, his arm going straight and the butt of his fork hitting Snape at the inside top of his left leg, very narrowly missing more sensitive bits. After a few more seconds, the memory ended and they all sat back.

"I'm afraid I don't see your point, Severus," said Minerva frostily. "While I agree that Mr Malfoy acted strangely, it was quite obvious to me that Mr Potter didn't even have his wand out. Both of his hands were visible on a pitcher of juice, for Merlin's sake."

"He didn't need to have his wand out, he'd already cast the spell," Severus argued.

Flitwick pulled his wand out and ran it over the victim, drawing a glare from the man in the bed. Ending the spell and putting his wand away, Flitwick announced, "I find no spells on you and I've already checked Mr Malfoy. He also was clean, other than the hair control spell he uses. I'm sorry, Severus, I can find no proof that Mr Potter did anything."

"I'm sure of it," Severus insisted.

"How?" Sprout asked, getting an agreeing nod from the other two heads of house. "I can't think of any way, now that Filius has found no magic on you. How did he do it?"

"I'm afraid I must agree," Dumbledore said slowly, "I see no reason to accuse Mr Potter. However, perhaps we should watch again." He tapped the Pensieve and they all watched. Dumbledore slowed down the playback as Snape neared Malfoy.

"There, see, that motion wasn't natural," Severus said. "A spell jerked Malfoy's arm and caused him to almost injure me grievously. Potter also had me in his field of vision so he could make it happen."

Flitwick shook his head. "Severus, I counted over a dozen students who had you in their field of vision and most of them were Slytherins."

Dumbledore cleaned out the bowl with a spell, causing the memory copy to disappear before he picked up the bowl. "Rest, take tomorrow off if you wish, Severus, but I would strongly suggest you put this behind you. There is no evidence that Mr Potter did anything you accuse him of." He left and most of the rest followed.

"I'll be watching you and the punishment book, Severus; do not test me," McGonagall warned him before she left.

Poppy silently summoned the jar of bruise cream before she walked over and set it on the table beside the man. "I'll let you apply this yourself," she told him as she pointed her wand and animated a privacy screen to walk over into place.

"I'll also give you a little advice, as one teacher to another." She animated a second screen but didn't look at him. "Do remember the school motto."

"Why would I care about that now?" he asked scornfully.

"The reason we have the saying 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' is because of the story of the dragons saying that 'Wizards are tasty when toasted'."

He glared at her and she considered that perhaps she had taken her humor too far, but she had no plans to apologize. "Severus, Mr Potter is no longer the eleven year-old boy who came to school so naïve in our world and ignorant of magic. He has nearly finished six years of school and his outlook is no longer so innocent; I should know considering how many times I've had to patch him up. He's starting to look at how bad things are in our world and I believe he's quite capable of fixing some of them if motivated. Motivate him at your own peril."

She moved the third and last screen over before she looked at him sitting there contemplatively, yet still with an obvious air of anger. As she returned to her office, Poppy wondered if he could restrain himself or if he would test Potter even more. Potter was a good young man with a strength of will that she admired. She thought that strength of will would surprise Severus, probably in a way he wouldn't like and she wouldn't blame Potter. After the stunt Snape pulled on the two Gryffindors last weekend after she had patched up Potter, she was upset with the Potions professor.

* * *

The next day, Harry was walking with Susan, as they rounded a corner and the main staircase came into view, Harry saw an opportunity and decided to take it. He moved a small block of air in the distance at the same time he pulled on Susan's hand, causing her to spin back to him, where he grabbed her and kissed her hard in the side corridor and out of view from the stairs. She never heard Malfoy's yelp as he suddenly tripped at the top of the stairs he had just started down, nor the conversations around Malfoy at the bottom of the stairs where he lay unconscious until helped.

As they finally broke apart, Harry said, "Have I told you today that I love you?"

"No," she answered with a grin and then kissed him just as hard as he had kissed her.

After a wonderful snog session of nearly ten minutes, Harry took her hand and led her back down the corridor.

"Wait, weren't we going the other way?" she asked a little bewildered.

"I changed my mind," he told her.

Harry noticed that even after she heard of it, Susan never mentioned Malfoy's accident or gave any questioning looks. He wasn't sure if she didn't connect their "almost presence" with the accident or didn't care. Either way, he didn't bring it up either.

* * *

The next Monday afternoon, Harry entered his Defense class as usual. Unlike usual, he was extra wary. He knew quite well that Snape was a formidable wizard and Malfoy would be there as well, causing him to be doubly on his guard. Honestly, despite what Malfoy had tried to do to him and Hermione, he wasn't all that worried about the little ponce. He had enough friends in the class, starting with Ron, who would be glad to throw a spell or two at the ferret.

Fortunately, he normally sat at the rear of the class and he took that position now. He also carefully watched Malfoy, who hadn't been injured all that badly from his fall down the stairs a few days earlier. Harry was of mixed feelings about that. He was starting to feel he had probably punished Malfoy enough, but he wasn't totally sure either. Hermione was back to being as skittish as she was at the beginning of the year; her progress over the last eight months lost. Perhaps Malfoy needed more punishment for Hermione's sake, but that was a matter for later consideration.

Snape entered the classroom and slammed the door behind him, as usual. A quick look over the room, for an attendance check, and he started his lecture. "Today, we will learn about using immaterial to animal Transfiguration for defense. Who can tell me why this is useful?"

Harry was not surprised Hermione didn't raise her hand; she had stopped doing that at the beginning of the spring term as Snape had not called on her to answer a question for the entire fall term. He lazily raised his hand as did a few others, not that he expected to be called on either.

"Mr Zabini?"

Harry looked over a few seats to the closest thing to a friend that he had in Slytherin, and it would be much more accurate to say that Blaise was a good acquaintance. As Zabini finished his answer on having extra help or a distraction while fighting, Harry felt something he had not in nearly a year. Snapping a look forward, he saw Snape staring at him intently. The mental assault intensified significantly as he made eye contact.

Doing his best not to think, Harry threw his left arm in front of his eye as his right went for his wand. However, the mental probe didn't stop so Harry had no choice but to continue towards a magical solution and threw up a shield in front of his desk, which did cause the mental probe to stop.

All eyes turned to him for that action and Snape said icily, "I don't know what you think you're doing, Potter, but for uninstructed magic in the classroom, that will be fifty points from Gryffindor and detention with me tonight."

Harry stood, still behind his shield with wand in hand. "No, there should be no point loss. You attacked me with Legilimency and I only defended myself."

"That will be another fifty points from Gryffindor and another detention for your disrespect," said the Professor in suppressed glee. "Do you have another retort? We could go see the Headmaster about your expulsion."

"Yes, let's go see the Headmaster," Harry replied, "after that, you can apologize to me in front of the class as well."

"You are as arrogant as your worthless father. Leave my class and I'll deal with you later," Snape told him.

"Of course," Harry agreed with barely suppressed anger. "I'll just go show the Headmaster a memory of this class and how much of a bully you are and then I'll start the paperwork for a formal complaint to the board of governors to have you sacked."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "Go Potter," he roared.

Harry summoned his bag, leaving his writing things on the desk as time was of the essence. Walking backwards to keep Snape fully in view, Harry opened the door and left, his shield still in front of his desk. Closing the door behind him and then sending a locking charm at it, which would only slow Snape down by a few seconds, he ran towards the Headmaster's office, casting a spell as he went. His stag ran down the corridor faster than he did.

He seriously considered summoning McGonagall to this meeting, but decided against it. If he was to put some of Neville's training into practice, it would be better to not have his head of house in the way where she might be hurt and - more importantly - be forced to take sides when the issues might not be clear. He didn't invite Flitwick for the same reasons.

As he approached the gargoyle to the Headmaster's office, he found it was to the side as he'd requested, so he stepped onto the stairs and let them carry him up as he got his breath back. He was surprised to see the Headmaster on the top landing waiting on him.

"Good afternoon, Mr Potter. I was quite surprised to receive your message to allow you instant passage to my office if I didn't want bloodshed in the corridor. That seems rather extreme. Perhaps you should come in and we can discuss it." The old wizard turned and entered his office.

Harry followed, closing the door behind him. He noted that Fawkes was absent, which was unfortunate, but then again maybe not if he wanted resolution. Taking a seat, he put his bag down but left his wand out.

"Perhaps a sherbet lemon?" Dumbledore offered as he took his seat.

"I think your Pensieve would be more appropriate," Harry replied.

"Hmm, not a good beginning for a conversation. Should I assume someone else will be joining us momentarily?" asked Dumbledore, not getting up.

"He said he would, but who can say until it happens," Harry replied, staying on the edge of his seat and being very vigilant.

"I see…" Dumbledore looked thoughtful, but didn't have much time as there was suddenly a sharp knock on the door before it was thrust open to reveal Snape standing there with his wand in his hand and looking a controlled angry. "Ah, Professor, do come in; we've been waiting for you."

"I will have him expelled for blatant disrespect and casting willful and uninstructed magic against me," Snape said while glaring at him.

Harry stood to match him and backed up slightly to put his back against the wall. "Professor Dumbledore, you should know that he performed uninvited Legilimency on me in the classroom and wouldn't stop until I cast a shield spell and called him on it." He heard a sigh from his left but didn't turn, keeping a watch on his enemy, for that is what he thought of Snape now. "I think it would be more appropriate to sack him for his exceedingly great unprofessionalism. I'm very willing to file an official complaint about this, as well as for all the times he's been grossly unfair to me."

"I did no such thing and there is no proof," Snape said without his expression changing in the slightest.

"Of course you'll deny it," Harry argued. "Prove it by making a magical vow that you didn't perform Legilimency on me in class today."

"Idiot boy, there is no need to because I didn't do it," Snape told him confidently.

"Yeah, you won't make the vow because everyone in this room knows that you really did it," Harry countered.

"Gentlemen," Dumbledore said tiredly, "please take a seat so we can discuss this."

Neither moved.

"There is nothing to discuss other than his removal from this school," Snape said pointedly.

"Removal it seems is the one thing that we agree on," Harry shot back.

"Gentlemen, we must work together or the Dark side will win," Dumbledore insisted.

"The Dark side can have him because he's a Death Eater," Harry said boldly as he readied his wand and strengthened what little Occlumency he could do.

Snape seemed to, somehow, become even more upset. "You're as arrogant and stupid as your father…"

"That's it! I'm tired of you insulting my family. In accordance with the old traditions, I demand a formal apology for each and every insult and wrong against my family, my entire family, or let there be a family feud to the death." Harry's demand silenced Snape in a way nothing else could have done and it also caused the professor to freeze for a moment in surprise.

"Now, Harry … Mr Potter, there is no need-" Dumbledore started.

"There is every need," Harry interrupted him. "He has insulted my family for all six years I've been here. He's belittled me and bullied me. Now he calls me a liar to my face. No more! I want a formal apology and a magical vow not to insult the Potters again … or else a family feud. There's only one in each of our families so it's even completely fair. And Snape, if you try Legilimency on me right now, I'll regard that as acceptance of the feud and I'll kill you right now too. It'd even be official since we're in the presence of a Ministry official." He didn't want to reveal his powers in front of Dumbledore, but he was so sick and tired of Snape. Besides, he didn't think Dumbledore would let it escalate to a feud.

Snape "blinked" first and looked at the Headmaster while Harry kept his focus on his enemy.

"Yes," Harry continued a little more calmly, "I now know many of the traditions of our world and I don't call for this lightly. I have been wronged so many times and put up with it for far longer than any adult in our society would. I've had to … but no longer. Choose _Mister_ Snape."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and gently intoned, "Mr Potter, there is no need for this. I'm sure we can find a solution that doesn't involve violence."

"There is one," Harry replied, his gaze still watching Snape. "He needs to issue a formal apology in front of the student body and make a magical oath - or really an Unbreakable Vow because I know that anything less is worth nothing - to never insult the Potters again. All it takes is a few words on his part along with the proper intent. If he does that, no one will be harmed."

Snape's look at the Headmaster became more intent, although he said nothing.

"Mr Potter, have you considered that Professor Snape can't make a formal apology? Have you considered his role for us in the Order, that a formal apology might mean his death the next time he saw Voldemort?" Dumbledore tried again to talk him out of it.

Honestly, he hadn't considered that. He wondered if it was true. "I won't require an oath from you, Headmaster, but can I have your word on your honor that is true?"

"Mr Potter," Dumbledore said formally, "you have my word on my honor that Severus Snape is in a position that a formal apology in front of the Hogwarts body would have repercussion's that would most probably lead to his death in the near future."

There was enough vagueness in that statement that Harry felt he was being manipulated, but he did trust Dumbledore that far - barely. "Very well, I'll modify my demand to a personal apology right here in front of you as a witness and an Unbreakable Vow to never insult the Potter family again. It's that or the family feud."

When Dumbledore said nothing for a long moment, Harry smiled slightly. "Headmaster, you'll have to decide whom you need more." That was a bit unfair of him, perhaps, but it was amusing to pit the old man's belief in a prophecy versus his perceived need for a spy. "You've allowed the situation to get this far out of hand because you let him act as no teacher should be allowed to act, so I suppose it's only fair now that you get to advise Mr Snape on what his answer should be."

Despite the death glare Snape was giving him, Harry was glad the man didn't seem to want to test him by doing Legilimency on him. He really didn't want to kill him, but if Snape attacked him and died, so be it.

"Severus," Dumbledore finally said, "a private apology here wouldn't endanger you."

"It is not the apology I'm concerned about, Headmaster," Snape protested.

"I understand," Dumbledore said soothingly. "You won't be able to say the things you did formerly and that will look suspicious. You'll have to say you were forced into it, blame it on me; I can withstand it."

It took several moments, but Snape eventually lowered his wand and Harry matched the gesture. His spur of the moment plan to manipulate Snape was going to work; Snape really had no choice and both he and Dumbledore realized that.

Snape looked at the Headmaster and Harry risked a glance and saw the Headmaster nod, although he looked very sad. Despite how angry he looked, Snape said, "I, Severus Snape, apologize to Harry Potter for the insults to the Potter family … earned or not," he tacked on.

Next, Snape held out his hand and looked to Dumbledore. Harry didn't really want to hold the man's hand, but he didn't have a choice if he wanted the oath and magical Vow. Though it looked like it pained him, Dumbledore performed the spell and bonded the Unbreakable Vow for Snape to never insult the Potter family again.

When the magic died down, Snape jerked his hand free before he spun and took three long strides to the door. Before he could leave though, Harry said, "Professor Snape." The man froze with his hand on the doorknob. "While I consider us even and the past resolved, if you retaliate against me or my friends because of this, I will consider your oath broken and if Magic doesn't kill you, I will consider the feud in effect, and I will kill you as soon as I am able. I can forgive and leave you alone as you leave me alone, but I will not forget what you forced today."

Without looking back, Snape continued his exit and slammed the door behind him.

"Mr Potter, I am so disappointed. You have made a potent enemy today for little gain and you have fractured our side of the war. It was a foolish thing that you did," Dumbledore lectured with a very disappointed look.

Harry put his wand away and looked right at Dumbledore. "On the contrary, I've now gained a measure of peace in my life that I should have had for the last six years, if you had been doing your job as Headmaster. I should not have been bullied and verbally abused by that man while here; and sir, that is your fault for allowing it to happen because you are the Headmaster. No other teacher does it and he should not have either. If you want to know why there's no school unity, as the Sorting Hat would like or sings about, it's because you let Professor Snape and his Death Eater interns act like uncivilized barbarians.

"As for fracturing our side of the war, the fracture was already there. He already hated me, starting with my first day of classes, and _he taught me_ to hate _him_. Because of _his_ actions, I already didn't trust him and as far as I know you're the only person - anywhere - who trusts him. Therefore, there is no change.

"On to a more practical matter, Professor Snape took 100 points from Gryffindor and gave me two detentions. While it would be fair of you to put the points back as the Gryffindor house did nothing wrong, you can make the adjustment or not as you wish. I am telling you here and now that I will not attend the detentions with him. If that's a problem, please let me know and I'll transfer to another school for next year so that my presence doesn't cause trouble."

Dumbledore looked at him and his beard twitched, and not because he looked like he wanted to chuckle. "I declare a point correction, 80 points to Gryffindor. I'm afraid you've just removed yourself from consideration for Head Boy next year, Mr Potter."

Harry bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "You don't know me very well, Professor, if you think that such consideration is in any way important to me. It's a punishment I'll gladly bear for what I've gained today. Have a good evening, Headmaster," he said as he grabbed his book bag and left.

As he went down the stairs, he was not surprised to see Susan waiting for him. He was surprised that she was the only one. "Hi," he said he went up to her and pulled her into a hug and just held her, enjoying the moment greatly, using her presence to center himself after the turmoil.

"Are you all right?" she asked softly with her voice full of concern, holding him as tightly as he held her. "I was worried about you and then Snape came down and looked like he wanted to kill me with his glare."

"Sorry about that, but it comes with the territory of being with me," he said, still not letting go. "I'm fine and I'll be better when I can relax for a while. It's been a stressful afternoon." He finally loosened his grip and pulled back a little, but kept her within arms' reach as he held her hands.

"I can imagine. Class was dismissed shortly after you left and dinner isn't for over an hour. Would you like to go for a walk outside?" she asked, really suggested.

"Sure," he said, "after I take care of my bag. Kreacher!"

The elf popped in and said, "Yes, master?" in the way only Kreacher could, communicating both insolence and subservience.

Harry ignored the tone and handed his book bag over. "Place this on my bed in the dorm room and then return to whatever you were doing." The elf left with a pop as he complied.

With his bag taken care of, he started to slowly lead the way. "I'm really surprised it's only you here."

Susan smiled and looked a little embarrassed. "Your friends would be here too but I sort of threatened them to stay away. I thought that you might not want a crowd when you came out."

"You know me well," he said with a smile and was very pleased that she did.

They passed several people that they both knew, but all had had the presence of mind to not stop them, making Harry wonder how they looked or maybe if they were giving off bad magical vibes.

Outside, she steered them towards the lake and they took a leisurely stroll around it, talking very little. As they neared the half-way point, she stopped him. "Your friends are up ahead. If you don't want to talk to them we should turn around."

He looked at her for a moment. "Whose idea was it to talk out here?"

"Mine, actually," she admitted readily. "I knew the questions would come and thought it might be better out here, but you don't have to do this now if you don't want to."

"But there's no stopping them, really," he said as he considered it.

Susan smirked at him. "It is considered the height of rudeness to Obliviate your friends unnecessarily."

He looked at her and then chuckled at her teasing for his statement last week when he didn't want to talk to his friends. With a gentle hand to one cheek, he pulled her the last little bit to him for a gentle kiss. Feeling better, he led her forward.

A couple of minutes later, they came to a small clearing and found all of their close friends who'd been in the aborted class earlier sitting on blankets and enjoying the sun that was feeling quite good today.

Hermione was the first to notice them and jumped up and ran to him, enveloping him in a hug as Susan let go of his hand and conjured a blanket for the two of them. "Are you all right?" his bushy-headed friend asked with great concern and he nodded.

When she let go of him, he walked over and sat beside his girlfriend while Hermione returned to the blanket with Megan and Lilith.

"Are you going to tell us more details this time?" Ron asked, barely on the proper side of polite.

Harry held back his first response. It had been hard to apologize to Ron last week as he felt guilty for having been a bad example and not holding in his anger then. "There's not a lot to tell without betraying confidences. As Neville explain in his Wizarding Traditions class," he nodded to his friend gratefully, "matters in a family dispute are considered private."

Neville blinked. "Err, Harry, are you saying you entered into a family feud? I didn't teach that so you'd do it but so you'd know what not to do."

With a gentle smile, Harry said, "I know, Neville, but we didn't create a family feud, I merely threatened one. After that ultimatum was on the table as the worst case, we worked things out. Basically, I'll leave him alone and he'll leave me alone; that's all I'll say about it."

"What about all the points and detentions that Professor Snape gave you?" Hermione asked a little hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer.

"Dumbledore was fairly decent about it. He restored all but twenty of the points and cancelled the detentions," or effectively allowed them to be cancelled he told himself. "However," twisting his face into an absurd pout, "he also said I've removed myself from consideration of being Head Boy next year."

"No big deal, mate," Ron told him easily, earning a glare from Hermione.

Harry was a little surprised, as he was sure Ron had seen himself wearing the Head Boy badge in the Mirror of Erised in their first year, but perhaps Ron's goals had changed since then. "I'm fine with it considering what I got in return. Being Head Boy might have been nice, but I'll enjoy less stress in my life this way."

Susan put an arm around him and held him close, which he enjoyed. The group seemed to realize that was the end of the topic and just chatted until it was time for dinner; Harry enjoyed that too.

Inside the Great Hall, Snape gave him a glare but otherwise left him alone completely. Harry didn't say a word or gloat, although he did smile ever so slightly to himself.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	12. The End of an Era

**Chapter 12 - The End of an Era**

It was the Friday of mid-June; they were half-way through their end of year tests. In fact, Harry had just finished his Transfiguration test and he only had two more to do next week: Potions and Defense. He was not looking forward the last one, uncertain of how Snape would handle it. The man had left him alone since their confrontation in the Headmaster's office, other than the usual glares that Harry could shrug off with ease after six years of practice.

Susan joined him in the Great Hall for dinner, having just put her things away. As she sat down, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you for all the practice sessions; I think they helped me greatly in Charms."

He turned slightly and kissed her on the cheek so he could keep this conversation reasonably private considering where they were. "You're welcome and I appreciate you helping me test my skills. I think we're both better off for that. I just hope we don't have to use them."

"Agreed," she said softly as she pulled back and began dishing out food for dinner. As Hannah joined her at the Gryffindor table, she smiled at her friend. Despite the stress of the day from the tests, it seemed those around them were doing fairly well, except maybe for Ron. He appeared to be in a sour mood, but at least he wasn't snapping at his friends.

As dessert was finished, Harry saw Professor McGonagall approach him, almost as if she had been waiting for him to finish eating. "Mr Potter, if you could join me for a few minutes?"

"Uh, certainly, Professor." He looked at his girlfriend and asked, "Where can I find you later?"

"Try the common room. Hannah is forcing me to revise some more on Herbology," she answered.

"Right, later then." He squeezed her shoulder as he stood and followed his Professor who had been waiting patiently.

When they were alone in the corridor, Harry asked, "Professor, may I ask what this is about?" His head of house hesitating gave him some concern.

"Mr Potter, I fully stand by your position of you choosing what to do with your life; however, I do believe it would be to your benefit to listen to a few things the Headmaster has to say." She paused for a moment before adding, "I also believe you will like some of it."

This would be a mixed bag, he thought, but he did trust her, so he nodded and continued to walk with her.

As they entered the Headmaster's office, Harry saw it was only the Headmaster waiting and that McGonagall took a seat. He appreciated her support. "I understand you wished to speak with me?"

"Yes, Mr Potter," Dumbledore said. "I have several matters for your attention. I realize you've recently finished dinner, but would you like some tea?"

"Thank you for the offer, but no thank you." If the Headmaster was being so polite, Harry felt he must reply in kind.

"Very well, to business then." Dumbledore shifted in his chair, showing his blackened hand for a brief moment. "I would like to start by giving you an apology, several really."

Harry was slightly shocked.

"I wanted you to know that this year has allowed me quite a bit of time to reflect on my life and many of my decisions. While I believe that most of the time I did the right thing with the information I had, I can see now that there were times I let myself be blinded. I'm afraid that you, Harry, if I may be familiar for this moment, suffered and I'm deeply sorry for that.

"I believe one of my largest mistakes was leaving you with your aunt and her family, despite being advised against that." Dumbledore gave a nod to McGonagall. "It was a mistake because I believed Petunia would treat you and raise you she would her own son, like family, as it would have been done in the Wizarding world. Alas, that was a grave mistake. Sadly, once I'd made that mistake, several other mistakes followed, such has forcing you to return there and not giving you the help that could have been found if I'd tried harder.

"I also didn't protect you enough over the years here at school, nor did I really protect Sirius as I should have, in order to let him help you. For these and my many other mistakes, this old man begs for your forgiveness," Dumbledore said sincerely.

Harry considered all of that for a moment as he looked down at his hands in his lap. He truly wished the mistakes could have been avoided, but sometimes that was very hard. He knew he made many mistakes. He also wondered Dumbledore was doing this now because he didn't have long for this earth, as evidenced by his blackened hand. "Thank you for the apology, Headmaster, I accept it, and I forgive you for those mistakes."

"Thank you, my dear boy; I do appreciate it very much." Dumbledore took a sip from his cup before he said, "Since you will not be returning to the Dursleys, may I request that you be careful where you stay this summer? The house you inherited would be the best possible place that I can think of."

"You may assume that safety will be very much at the forefront of my mind," Harry replied. He didn't know how much time he'd stay at Sirius's house, but he knew it probably was safest place, _if_ that was all he cared about.

"Excellent, that gives me a little peace of mind," Dumbledore said as he picked up his wand and with a swish and flick, two brightly colored packages from behind the desk rose and were set on the front edge of the desk in front of Harry. "I'm afraid that I might not be available to give you a birthday present this year, so I shall give these to you now. There are things in the main box that will bring you happy moments, some that are informational, and some that are things that I believe you'll need to know for the future. The other box has some helpful trinkets.

"As you have a house that is quite safe and a house elf, could I ask you to call him and take those to that house? You can look at it all when you return there in a couple of weeks. If there is anything you don't understand, please contact Professor McGonagall. While she hasn't seen the items inside, I'm sure she can help you with anyone who is referenced as well as help with any spells I've left for you to learn."

Harry thought that sounded interesting and gave him motivation that he didn't have before to really look over what was in the box. "Kreacher? Come," he commanded and the elf popped in.

"Yes, Master."

"Kreacher, please take these boxes to the house of Black and put them on my bed and then leave them alone."

"Yes, Master," the elf said before he popped away with a snap of his fingers, the boxes going with him.

"So far so good," Dumbledore said with a smile. "For the next item, I thought I would give you the offer to join the Order of the Phoenix."

"Thank you for the offer, Headmaster, but I will decline." Harry had been ready for this one and was surprised he hadn't been asked months ago.

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked. "They could be helpful to you."

"Again, no thank you," Harry repeated before glancing to the side and seeing McGonagall giving him a thoughtful and resigned look. "I do have some adult advisors, such as Professor McGonagall, but I don't see any need to be part of the Order. I still reject the Prophecy."

"I see," Dumbledore said slowly. "I'm not surprised but felt you should be given the choice."

While he didn't care about joining the Order, he was pleased Dumbledore had at least learned to ask his opinion and not force it on him.

"Harry, I have a task I need to do this evening in regards to the war, to move it closer to completion. I would like to offer you the chance to come with me and help me." Dumbledore looked at him curiously.

Harry felt that whatever was going on was something that he probably didn't want any part of, as this sounded like another "adventure". "I believe that I will remain true to my previous decision. I will not go looking for trouble, but I will defend myself and my friends as needed."

Dumbledore nodded as he reached for a piece of parchment and picked it up. "I expected that to be your answer, so I have a more minor request closer to home. While I'm out of the castle, would you be willing to patrol the castle from nine until midnight or so? I have a pass for you and a companion of your choice, whether that be Mr Longbottom or Mr Weasley … or perhaps one of your loyal and lovely lady friends." He held the parchment out.

Harry considered the request and decided nothing too bad could come from walking around the castle, so he reached up and took the parchment as he said, "I can do that." Glancing at it, he saw that it was indeed a pass for him and one friend to patrol, but until 1:00 am.

"I'll be sure to let you know when I return, but if you could look around, especially watching the entrances, I'd appreciate it. All of the professors know I'll be gone and will be available, as well as a few friends from another group," Dumbledore explained.

Harry took that to mean some from the Order of the Phoenix. "I understand."

"That's all that I have and I do thank you for your time and help tonight," Dumbledore told him.

Understanding the meeting was over, Harry stood. "You're welcome, Headmaster. Professor," he intoned with a nod towards McGonagall as he left.

It wasn't hard to guess why Dumbledore wanted him to patrol the castle while he was gone. Harry didn't think it was egotistical as he considered that he was probably the best student for defending the castle. Who else had faced Voldemort multiple times and survived?

In the Hufflepuff common room, after he was let in, he found Neville, Hannah, and Susan at a table. He took a seat next to his girlfriend, who looked at him curiously. Guessing her question wasn't hard.

"McGonagall took me to see Dumbledore. He had a few trinkets for me, and an apology for placing me at the Dursleys," he said quietly, hoping to contain the conversation to the four of them.

Susan smiled brightly and gave him a hug. "I'm happy for you."

"It was good to hear," he said with his own smile. "He also asked me to patrol the castle tonight with a friend of my choice." He looked at her.

"Of course, Harry," she beamed before she kissed him on the cheek.

The good moment was broken as Hannah placed a potions book in front of him and gave him a teasing smile. "This is so you don't distract Susan while she's revising before you go."

"You're no fun," Susan said and stuck her tongue out at her friend.

Hannah ignored the look and said, "Fun is in a week and you know you get better grades when you follow my study habits."

"True," Susan said, deflating and turning back to her book and notes.

Harry looked at Neville who'd followed it all grinning. Neville, slipped an arm around Hannah's shoulder before pointing at her Herbology notes. Harry put his hand on Susan's as he opened the book.

— — —

At nine, Harry closed the book, not sure if the hour and a half of looking at it had done him much good, but it had kept the girls happy and that was worth something. He caressed the back of Susan's hand and when she smiled at him, he told her quietly, "It's time to go."

She nodded and slipped a piece of parchment into the book she was looking at and closed it. "Do you mind?" she asked Hannah.

"No, I'll put it up for you. Thanks for revising with me." She looked at her boyfriend. "Sadly, you must go too."

Harry stood and walked Susan over to the door. They gave the other couple a moment; Neville joined them in leaving and on the first part of their journey.

As Neville started to go up the main staircase, Professor McGonagall was coming down. The two nodded at each other. Harry waited since it looked like she wanted to talk to him.

"Mr Potter," she called as she came near.

Sure now, Harry continued to wait while holding Susan's left hand so she'd have her right free for her wand. He was willing to do that because of his extra power.

McGonagall stopped close to them and then still talked quietly. "The Headmaster left only a few minutes ago. Do not be surprised if you see Remus Lupin, Bill Weasley, or Auror Tonks about tonight. They do know you'll be about as well."

"Thank you, Professor. Is there any particular place we should watch?" he asked.

"I haven't made any assignments," she replied before looking at him carefully, "unless you know of any secret passages out of the castle?"

Harry looked down for a moment. "I'm aware of one that's unusable, and one that might be useable." He hurriedly added, "I'd also suggest having someone keep watch on the Astronomy Tower, someone might try to fly in."

Despite his attempt to deflect the topic, she was not fooled. "Yes the Tower, I do have someone near there. We shall have to discuss how you became aware of the secret passages - later."

"Err, there's not really anything to discuss, Professor, once you consider Fred and George showed them to me." He wasn't too bothered by putting a target on the twins since they weren't in school any longer.

"Hmm, I suppose you have a point," she said thoughtfully. "Well, since you know of them, you should check on them occasionally as shall I."

He wasn't surprised that she knew of them. Although, now that he thought about it more, he was surprised neither she or Dumbledore hadn't closed the working one. "Of course, Professor." As she walked away, Harry led Susan around towards the DADA room.

"You know a secret passage out of the school?!" she asked in a fierce whisper.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I've only used it twice and that was back in third year. It comes up in the cellar of Honeydukes, so it's not the easiest place to get into, but now that I can Apparate, that does suggest possibilities." He stopped her now that they were out of sight of the Professor; he pulled out his Map and activated it. Curfew for the older students wasn't for another fifty minutes, so there were still plenty of students out. The important thing was that he didn't see anyone's name that caused him alarm. He put it away but didn't turn it off.

"This way," he told her. A few minutes later, they were walking towards a statue of a one-eyed witch. He whispered, "The passage is behind that statue. It would be difficult to go through as it was a tight squeeze even when I was a third year. I guess the danger is if someone decided they didn't care and just blasted it from inside the tunnel to widen it."

Susan thought about that. "Would that cause a cave-in?"

"Good question," he replied, "it is a possibility, but if they were careful it probably could be done."

They walked on for a while, mostly staying on the lower floors. Harry would occasionally stop and pull out the Map and look at it.

A little after ten and when general curfew had started, they ran into Terry Boot and Lisa Turpin. "What are you doing here?" Terry asked. "You're not on the schedule for tonight."

"I was asked to patrol," Harry answered. "I have a pass from Dumbledore or you can ask McGonagall when you see her. She's out and about."

"We saw her and another couple too, the ex-professor Lupin and some woman with pink hair," Lisa said. "Lupin said they were here for extra protection, but he didn't say for what."

Harry wasn't sure he should say it, but decided it probably didn't hurt. "Dumbledore is out of the castle for a few hours so that's why there's extra people."

Lisa looked at the other girl. "What about you, Susan? You're not a Prefect."

Harry took that one too. "The Headmaster let her come with me, maybe as a motivation for me to do this."

"So," Susan looked at him with a furrowed brow, "I'm a motivation or maybe an enticement?"

" _I_ find you enticing," he replied with a grin, which caused the others to laugh, even Susan.

Terry shook his head. "Whatever, see you around."

A few minutes later, Harry pulled out his Map and looked again. The two looked and saw McGonagall down by the one-eyed witch statue along with Flitwick. "Bet that's going to be harder to use in the future," he murmured approvingly and she nodded.

"Look," she pointed at the Map, "Mrs Norris is coming this way with Filch not far behind."

"Time to move, maybe go up," he commented as he put the Map away for now.

A few minutes later, they passed an alcove and Harry pulled her into it. "We shouldn't waste this." She grinned and they shared a kiss for a few minutes.

"I really like you, Harry," she told him as they started to walk again.

"I really like you too, Susan." He looked at her for a moment before he screwed up his Gryffindor courage to ask her a question that had been on his mind lately. "Susan, I'm not ready to do it yet, but do you think we might become, err, permanent one day?"

She looked at him and quirked a strange smile that soon turned into a short giggle.

"You're not supposed to laugh, it's not that funny," he said with a disbelieving look.

"You're silly sometimes, Harry," she told him. "There's nothing wrong with the word _married_ or talking about it."

"So?" He looked at her and waited; she seemed to be enjoying making him wait based on her expression.

"I'm not ready to do it this summer either, but I think that'd be lovely one day. I find it very appealing, how about you?"

He watched her turn and watch him. "I think I'd like it. I believe we still need to know more about each other, but I do like the idea."

"That's good," she said with a large smile and a great deal of satisfaction. "What else do you think we need to know?"

Harry started to answer but a distant shout reached them. He let go of her hand quickly and pulled the Map out. There, one floor above them and down the corridor were a number of names he didn't recognize at the top of the main stairs, then he saw two he did: Fenrir Greyback and Edward Yaxley.

"Crap!" He looked at her. "Go get the DA members from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, or at least from Hufflepuff. Gryffindor Tower is too far away."

"Harry, you can't-"

"I have to go help and make sure none of the invaders get away."

"But Harry-"

"Susan, they're Death Eaters and I don't want you near them unless you have help of at least a dozen others. Go! And Disillusion yourself for safety until you get there."

She looked like she was about to argue but instead pulled out her wand and tapped herself on top of the head, disappearing as she turned, her running footsteps fading slowly.

Harry turned and ran up a nearby back staircase so he could catch them from behind. He also pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and put it on. Remember Susan's footsteps, he cast a Silencing charm on his feet and the only noise he heard was the soft swishing of his cloak.

Damn it! He was going to have an adventure this year after all, he thought.

He really didn't want to have to do what he was about to do, but he had already argued it with himself many times. He had told Dumbledore that he'd defend himself and his friends, and he would. He also remembered what had happened at the Department of Mysteries; he wouldn't repeat that mistake and get a friend killed. As Madam Pomfrey had pointed out, sometimes you have to remove the disease.

Turning a corner, he saw spells flying near the other end of the corridor he had entered. Most of the fighting seemed to be at the top of the stairs and landing on the left, slightly out of direct sight.

An adult wizard he didn't recognize suddenly came out of the doorway to the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. As Harry was about to hit him with a burst of air, a jet of bright green light flew astray and the man dropped when the spell hit him.

It seemed the caster was a large male invader that was casting indiscriminately and dangerously. He was also just beyond the left corner with only an arm and wand suddenly appearing every few seconds. Harry walked a little closer to get a better angle. When he saw the arm next, he grabbed it with a band of air and pulled it back towards the Astronomy Tower door. With the large blond man now fully visible, Harry simply willed an arrow of very hard air through the man's left ear; it came out of his right. With a look of surprise, the man stumbled and then fell, not moving again as blood started to trickle out of his head.

More spell fire hitting the wall near the Astronomy Tower door indicated that the McGonagall and others were still fighting. Moving still closer to the landing, over on the side he saw two men on the floor locked in a struggle that he'd missed because of the other fighting. A disgusting looking man with a wild almost feral expression was sitting on top of Bill Weasley and holding him down by shear strength. As the man knocked Bill's head to the stone floor which seemed to daze him, the man lifted a clawed hand to take a swipe at Bill's unprotected head. Harry hit the crazy man with a shower of balls of air, causing a small explosion of blood; but it also stopped the fight by hurling the disgusting man a meter and slamming him into the wall, where he didn't get up.

While Bill was shaking his head and trying to get the blood and gore off of his face, Harry checked the Map and saw that Malfoy was still on the Tower along with Snape and Dumbledore. That would have to wait for a moment, as would Yaxley who was around the corner at the far end of the corridor, but it seemed Yaxley would make an appearance shortly thanks to Lupin and Tonks pushing him this way.

Back to the fight at the top of the stairs, he noticed the last two fighters worked well together and they had McGonagall and Sprout pinned down, but with Bill now able to help them, the professors were starting to make progress and forcing the pair of Death Eaters back and more into his view. He was going to target the overweight lumpy man when the woman with him cast a Killing curse that Bill barely dodged. Harry responded by sending an axe-head of air at her throat. As the blood sprayed out, it caused the other intruder to pause, which was all McGonagall needed to stun him.

Harry looked back at the Map just in time to see Dumbledore's name wink off. The name did not reappear anywhere else that he could see as Snape's and Malfoy's names walked down the stairs. There was only one explanation that he could think of: one of the two had just murdered Dumbledore. The question was, was the murderer in custody or was it a conspiracy? The answer would be seen in a moment. If someone was restrained, then that part of the fight was over.

At that moment Yaxley came running around the far corner in full retreat, looking for help that he didn't know wasn't available. Harry had no mercy on this intruder either knowing he was a Death Eater and shot an arrow of air through the man's left eye. He screamed and fell, not moving after a few seconds.

Remus and Tonks hesitantly peered around the corner and then walked around when they didn't see a wand pointed at them, surprised by Yaxley lying on his back with a bloody face.

At that moment, Snape and Malfoy walked out of the Astronomy Tower, completely unaware of the situation below. Harry frowned when both Snape and Malfoy were walking freely and each had his wand in his own hand, Malfoy following Snape.

The two were surprised to find the fight over and they were on the losing side. Malfoy panicked and brought his wand up. "Avada-"

Harry knew exactly what he had to do.

"-Kedavra!" As Malfoy said the last word, his arm suddenly moved left with the help of a very small band of air around his wrist. Instead of the spell streaking for McGonagall, the spell only went about one wand-length and hit Snape in the side and back. With a look of surprise, Snape crumpled to the floor. Malfoy just blinked and stared at his wand.

Harry knew what was coming and prepared himself. Moving slightly to the side to make sure Remus and Tonks didn't hit him accidentally, he waited for the spells. As expected two red stunning spells flew from the direction of the stairs in addition to a pair from Lupin and Tonks. He used the cover of spells to send a spear of air at Malfoy's chest, knocking him back against the wall before he slid down leaving a red streak on the stone.

Knowing there were no others, thanks to his Map, Harry walked the few steps to the Tower door and went through, not giving Malfoy a glance though he was only a meter away. He wasn't quite sure what he expected to find above, but felt he had to go look.

The Dark Mark in the sky wasn't a surprise. With a thought, he lit his wand and looked around. Dumbledore's body wasn't to be found, meaning he was all but sure the body would be on the ground and no one could survive that fall. He supposed it was possible Fawkes had saved the old man again, but that didn't seem realistic since Harry couldn't find Dumbledore's name anywhere on the map and he had looked in the hospital wing specifically.

As he turned to leave, he saw a familiar wand lying on the floor in the shadows, hidden from view. Picking it up, Harry was almost certain this was Dumbledore's, which confirmed that either Snape or Malfoy had killed the old man and the other hadn't tried to stop the killer, making the second an accomplice.

On a whim, Harry waved the wand, making a brilliant fountain of sparks. He was surprised at how well it worked for him. Deciding this was another birthday present from the late Headmaster, he stuck the extra wand in his pocket. Looking at the Map, Harry saw almost everyone was gathered around where Malfoy had fallen. Tonks was walking around, probably checking on the other Death Eaters.

Carefully and quietly, he extinguished his wand before slipping back into the corridor and then making his way back the way he'd come. He took extra care as he passed those near Malfoy's fallen form. He'd seen on the Map that Susan and twenty others were heading this way. He didn't really want her to see this, so he headed on an intercept path and took his special Cloak off once he was alone.

Two floors down, he saw Susan in the lead with her wand out. When she saw him she ran to him and hugged him tightly as if she thought she'd never see him again. "Harry?" she managed as the others came over.

"The fight is over. There were eight of them and they're all down. However, we need to check the grounds for something." He pulled away and walked them all over to the main staircase. "Seventh years, you can go up and see if the Professors need any help - if you want. Everyone else, follow me and wands out in case we find any intruders on the grounds."

Of the twenty, sixteen followed him out the front doors and around the castle. "What are we looking for?" Susan asked.

"A body," he answered. "I don't want to be right, but I believe that's what we'll find."

"Whose?" Ernie asked from behind.

A moment later, they found it. They all stopped and looked, none really approaching once they could see who it was. It was obviously Dumbledore and just as obvious that he was dead, based on his still, unnatural position.

Susan turned to him and hid her face in the hollow of his neck. Harry just looked at the body, slightly in shock, now that he had confirmation. He hadn't liked the Headmaster much for the last couple of years, but he'd never wished him dead or really even hurt. The murder made him angry, but he also felt vindicated that he'd made the right choice with Snape and Malfoy. He would have felt very bad had he found Dumbledore alive and in his office or the hospital wing. He continued to stare and hold Susan as he tried to work through his emotions.

Someone must have left to get a teacher because eventually he heard McGonagall coming from behind him. She stopped next to Harry and Susan when she saw the sight. "Albus…" she mumbled as she placed a hand on the stone wall to steady herself.

Being roused from his stupor, Harry managed to get Susan walking and they returned inside the castle. Professor Sprout was directing everyone back to their dorms.

Susan stopped and asked, "Professor, can Harry please stay in the common room tonight? Please?"

In the better light, Harry realized she had been crying silently.

Sprout gave them a kind look and pulled them both into a loose hug. "I'd like to be able to do that, but I'm afraid I can't. I'd suggest all of you girls get together for a sleep over whilst Mr Potter goes back to his own bed."

Without a word or any other type of protest, Susan nodded and started walking again, still holding his hand desperately. When they reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff area, Susan stopped. "Harry, I don't want to be alone tonight. Come with me."

"I'd like to, but you heard Sprout," he pointed out.

"Harry," she said with exasperation, "don't be thick, you're a wizard who can fly and our room has a window. Be there in half an hour," she commanded before she kissed him quickly and left.

Shaking his head, he headed for his dorm room. Entering the Gryffindor common area, he was mobbed by his house demanding information.

"Harry, what happened? McGonagall said we had to stay here," Hermione said with Gary and Judith, the seventh year Prefects nodding - the three had been guarding the Portrait hole on the inside.

Running his fingers through his hair, he considered what to say and maybe what he shouldn't say. "I'm tired but here's the bare essentials. Some Death Eaters broke into the castle. Led by Malfoy and Snape, they started a fight with the Professors and …" It was hard to say it but he knew he must. "They killed Dumbledore."

As pandemonium broke out, Harry tried to get away but Hermione grabbed him. "They really managed to do that?"

"Yeah, I saw his body; he's dead." Harry pulled away from her shocked grasp and made his way through the crowd and ignored questions that were shouted at him.

In his room, he grabbed his pyjamas and went for a quick shower since his shirt seemed to be sticking to him and he didn't want Susan to think badly of him. Coming back out of the bathroom, he saw the rest of his dorm mates waiting on him.

"This isn't a prank?" Ron asked.

Harry stopped and gave him an incredulous look. "No Ron, I wouldn't joke about this."

"I didn't think so, but how could anyone other than You-Know-Who kill Dumbledore?" Ron asked the room.

"Any wizard can be surprised." Harry took care of his clothes and then grabbed his broom out of his trunk. He also kept his wand, Map, and Cloak.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, but the others looked curious too.

"I'm going flying for a bit. I feel like shit and I want to relax. Please do me a favor and don't say anything to anyone. I'll be back before breakfast." Without giving his very surprised friends a chance to object, Harry threw his leg over the broom and flew out the open window.

It didn't take long before he found the window he needed on the back side of the castle overlooking a steep rock cliff. Susan made it easy for him to identify which room as she was waiting at the window. She moved when she saw him and allowed him to fly in.

Their room was neater than his and pleasantly decorated, but it was still a dorm room. The other three girls were huddled on a bed and didn't protest his presence. Susan went to her bed and beckoned him in. "Leave the curtains open, Harry, but hold me. Hold me and don't let go."

Harry complied with her wishes and she started crying quietly again. He wasn't feeling much better but for different reasons. He knew he'd done the right thing tonight, but he felt so very terrible about it.

— — —

Under normal circumstances, it probably would have been interesting to Minerva just how fast Minister Scrimgeour had joined the Aurors after being called. As it was, she was still reeling from the idea that Albus was dead. She knew the cursed hand would eventually kill him, but … the violence of his death - not to mention the other violence - made it all so horrifying.

The Minister came over along with the Head Auror Robards. The rest of the group contained all the adults who had fought that evening, along with Flitwick who'd been stunned by Snape down in the dungeons.

Scrimgeour looked them over. "I understand those of you who do not work here were present because Dumbledore invited you?"

"That is correct," Minerva answered. "Albus felt a little extra security would be helpful and he didn't believe the Ministry would have provided Aurors." She looked at the Head Auror.

Robards shook his head. "I don't believe we would have, if we'd been asked." He looked at the other Auror present. "Auror Tonks's presence is highly irregular, but she can do what she likes on her off time; however, I will say this is for this one time and that if it occurs in the future, it will not enhance her career."

Tonks gave him a grateful nod for not causing her trouble.

"I've seen my share of battles," Scrimgeour continued, "but I will say this is a most unusual one. There were seven marked Death Eaters and the most infamous werewolf in Britain here, and all are dead except for one stunned Death Eater and no one from your side is even hurt other than Dumbledore. That also does not account for the fact that there was at least one spell used that no one's ever seen before … that it was used against Greyback doesn't bother me, but I'd like to know what it is and if we can use it because it seems very effective against werewolves."

When no one said anything after a long moment, Minerva decided she had to. "I'm sorry, but I'm unaware of the answers to either of your questions. The battle was quite difficult at first because of surprise and the numbers; therefore, we don't know everything that happened. The big one, Rowle I believe he was called, was quite hap-hazard in his casting and I believe killed at least one of his own. Draco Malfoy also killed Severus Snape. Perhaps that was what happened with others … it is a hazard in close quarters fighting."

Both Ministry men looked less than satisfied at that; nevertheless, Robards murmured a little disbelievingly, "It's possible."

"Professor Flitwick," Scrimgeour looked at the man, "are you aware of any spell which could act like what was done to the werewolf? Mr Weasley said it was like a blast of little rocks hitting him, but we didn't find any objects when we looked, only empty holes in the werewolf."

Flitwick looked at Bill, whose robes were still bloody and quite messy. "No, Minister. I looked for clues as to the spell, but I'm unaware of how to do that. I'd say that it appears like multiple miniature Piercing curses were used all at once but they also had the power of a Bludgeoning or perhaps a Blasting curse behind them. I would be most interested also in a spell like that … for professional purposes of course."

"Of course," the minister echoed lightly, still not looking satisfied.

"At least we can see what Carrow knows," Robards said as he looked down at the stunned and bound Amycus.

"Minister, Auror Robards," McGonagall gave them a pleading look. "Now that we no longer have Dumbledore to help guard the school, could you find a way to have some Aurors help us until school lets out?"

Scrimgeour looked at Robards. "Perhaps a couple of squads on a rotating basis so there's always at least one squad here?"

"I can do that, Minister," Robards agreed before looking at the professor. "I would also suggest you let my Aurors handle all patrols, that way any student out after curfew is considered a suspect and we don't have distinguish between good and bad."

"I'll tell the Prefects and the Heads of Students tomorrow morning. All such patrols are over for this evening," she replied.

"Very good, I'll have one of the squads stay here tonight and make longer term arrangements tomorrow," said Robards.

While the head Auror left to take care of that, Scrimgeour's attention returned to the professors. "Any ideas on why Malfoy killed your professor? I've always wondered about the man's allegiance."

McGonagall dithered for a moment before she said, "Near as we can tell, one or both killed Professor Dumbledore and then threw him off the Astronomy Tower or else they caused that during a fight." She paused to clear her throat and take a calming breath. "Mr Potter found him at the bottom of the Tower."

"How did Potter know to go look there?" the Minister asked.

"I have no idea," she answered. "I didn't see him during the fight, but he might have seen the end of it when Professor Snape and Mr Malfoy came out of the Tower stairway. I would have gone to look myself, but we were busy with trying to save Mr Malfoy. Potter could have been behind me and I'm afraid I wouldn't have noticed in my distraction."

Scrimgeour looked around, his gaze settling on Tonks. "Did you see Potter?"

Tonks shook her head. "No I didn't, but as the Professor said, we were all pretty busy dodging Killing curses and the like. At the end, I wasn't searching for students as I was making sure all the Death Eaters weren't going to get back up and curse us."

The minister nodded while still not looking pleased. "Please let me know if you find out anything else and ask Potter if he saw anything." He looked at McGonagall. "It may not be my place to say this, but take over the school for the rest of the year. I'm thinking about a memorial service on Sunday or Monday, here."

"Minister, can you have the train run after the service? It might be a good idea to send the younger ones home. The fifth through seventh years could stay one more week for their exams." Flitwick gave a questioning look to McGonagall.

"Yes, I was thinking something similar," she said.

"I'll try to arrange it and let you know in the morning. Good-night." The Minister said before he limped away.

McGonagall shook her head. This was not how she envisioned the year ending.

* * *

The early morning sunlight woke Harry as was usual when the bed curtains were left open. He had thought last night that he was tired enough, physically and emotionally, that he might sleep later, but he hadn't. Since breakfast was at least two hours away because the sun came up so early this time of year, he grabbed his glasses and looked around the room some more.

He noticed the other three girls in someone's bed draped all over each other. He wondered if that was a girl thing because Susan was draped over him, not that he really minded. He thought Susan might disagree with him on this, but he thought she was beautiful right now even if she wasn't made up or her hair brushed. She looked very innocent and relaxed. The sunlight wasn't hitting her hair, so it looked more blonde than red at the moment.

Not really wanting to, Harry made himself get up anyway. As he started pulling himself out from under Susan, she stirred and suddenly looked at him, a little surprised. Then her expression softened as she obviously began to remember why he was there.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he put a finger over it before he grabbed his wand and cast a Muffling charm silently. "Now we can talk without disturbing them, if you want."

Nodding, Susan shifted until she was lying beside and against him instead of half on top of him, propped up on one elbow. "Thank you, Harry; I really needed you here last night."

He couldn't help but nod and admit, "I'm glad you thought of it; I needed this too, more than I realized."

She used her free hand to push her hair back behind her shoulder, an action that Harry enjoyed watching, before putting her hand on his chest. "I can't decide whether to be thankful or upset with you for sending me away."

It took a long moment before he figured out what he wanted to say and still he wondered if it was the right thing. "I'm glad you weren't there, it wasn't pretty."

"What happened?"

Harry was thankful she didn't sound judgmental or demanding. "The fight was well underway by the time I arrived. It was chaos, but I remembered my lesson from the Department of Mysteries that if I'm going to fight, I need to fight to win.

"One Death Eater was throwing around spells without really looking and killed one of his own. Since they were using the Killing curse, I … I used deadly force too. I'm still trying to come to grips with it. I know deep down that I did the right thing; we're in a war and they'd happily kill us; but I still don't like it that I had to kill some people. It needed to be done, but I wished it hadn't been me."

"I'm so sorry you had to do that," she told him as she put her arm completely over him and laid her head down next to his, sort of in a hug. "You're right though, it needed to be done. They will happily kill us, just like they killed…" She swallowed for a moment before she breathed, "Auntie."

"I know," he agreed tiredly. "They killed Sirius, my parents, Cedric, and those are just the ones close to me."

"And Dumbledore," she added. "I never expected that."

Harry considered what to say. "I didn't always agree with him the last couple of years, but he shouldn't have gone this way. I don't know who did it, but Snape and Malfoy were the last ones with him before they knocked him off the Astronomy Tower."

Susan gasped before he eyes narrowed. "I hope you took care of them then; they deserved it."

"I think so too, but that doesn't make it easier afterward. Obviously, I can't tell anyone this nor of my special power." He gave her a look that she easily interpreted.

"I know and I won't tell either; but thank you for trusting me." Susan stretched up and kissed him gently. Looking up at the clock, she said, "It's half past six."

"I should go." He looked at her for a moment and grinned. "I think I could get used to this."

"You think?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Leaning up, he kissed her quickly. "I believe we'll have to try it a few more times to be sure, but yeah."

Smiling and looking more relaxed than a moment ago, Susan sat up and let him get up as well. Harry put his special cloak on and picked up his broom. The other girls were still asleep so only Susan was aware of his leaving and she had a wistful look.

He flew slow and close to the castle walls, and never in front of a window. Arriving back at his dorm room, he flew in and was glad the rest were still asleep. Putting his broom up, Harry lay on his bed and considered what might happen this morning and worked on his explanation of what he saw and did the prior night.

— — —

As the Gryffindors went to breakfast, _en masse_ and with a few of the younger ones holding their wands as if they might need them, they passed two Aurors in the middle of the grand staircase and two more at the front doors. Harry supposed he wasn't too surprised by that. All the Ravenclaws were already there. He noticed that Hagrid was absent, despite the rest of the teachers being present.

A few minutes after they'd arrived, the Hufflepuffs entered, again as a group with only a couple of stragglers that were watching behind them. Susan and Hannah split off and sat very close to their boyfriends, each with an arm around their beau's back. Harry leaned into her and touched his head to hers for a moment.

The Slytherins were the last to arrive, led by Professor Wilkins and with two Aurors at the end of the line. They were seated with the oldest nearest the professors and the youngest nearest the doors. Many of them didn't look happy with the situation and as if they were being unfairly judged. Pansy Parkinson looked the worse, angry as well as with very red and puffy eyes.

McGonagall stood to address them and all paid attention as there was no food on the table. "I'm sure many of you have heard there was a disturbance in the castle last night. A group of Death Eaters broke in, led by the traitor Draco Malfoy."

Parkinson shot her a murderous look.

"Including Mr Malfoy and Professor Snape," McGonagall continued, "there were eight intruders. Of them, seven are dead including Mr Malfoy and Professor Snape."

Murmurs broke out and McGonagall let them go for a few seconds before she rapped her wand on her goblet to bring silence again. "Mr Malfoy and Professor Snape were with Professor Dumbledore at the time of his demise."

More and louder murmurs broke out and McGonagall let them go for a full ten count before she rapped on her goblet again. "As Professor Dumbledore is no longer with us, I will be in charge of the school for the remainder of the term.

"Because of the Headmaster's death…" she had to pause for a moment, "I was told minutes ago that there will be a memorial service early Sunday afternoon. After the service, all students below fifth year will be sent home via the Floo, either to your home or to the Leaky Cauldron in London. Those fifth year and above will remain here for one more week to finish their exams, starting Monday. Younger students, I suggest you pack tonight."

She clapped her hands and the food appeared, then she slumped into her chair; the big golden chair in the center of the head table remained empty.

Harry picked at his food, as did Susan, and really everyone else except for Ron. He at least didn't talk and now chewed with his mouth closed, for which many were grateful.

As most seemed to finish eating, McGonagall rose and walked down the side next to the Gryffindor table. "Mr Potter, a moment please? Miss Bones, perhaps you should come too." Again, the woman walked out the front doors. She put up a privacy charm after a glance at the Aurors by the front door.

"Mr Potter, I didn't see you at the fight last night, but were you there?"

He nodded. "I wasn't there at the beginning, but I did arrive before the end. I saw Malfoy kill Snape and then Malfoy was stunned and thrown against the wall. Since they were down and I didn't see any other fighting, there really wasn't anything for me to do."

"I see," she said, considering his words. "How did you know to go search the bottom of the Tower for the Headmaster?"

He was prepared for this. "Seeing Malfoy and Snape come out the Astronomy Tower, I went up there to see why they had been there. Not seeing anyone, it occurred to me that maybe they'd thrown someone off because I couldn't think of any other reason for them to be up there since they were already in the castle to start with. I had hoped that wasn't true, but … unfortunately it was. I know we didn't get along overly well for the last couple of years, but no one should go that way," he told her very sincerely.

McGonagall nodded. "I quite agree. One last question, Mr Potter. How did we not see you after the fight?"

This was a part Harry didn't want to admit, but it was the safest way out of this. "When I neared the fight, I put on my father's Invisibility Cloak. Professor Flitwick told me of the hazards of fighting while invisible, but it did seem the safest to me since I was watching and not casting spells. Afterwards, I just left it on as I checked the Astronomy Tower. I'm sorry, but it was habit. I felt that if I wasn't seen I couldn't be blamed for anything, as someone does … did all the time. I'll gladly let my wand be examined for prior spells."

McGonagall frowned but didn't argue. "Miss Bones?"

She swallowed. "When we heard fighting, Harry sent me away for reinforcements. By the time I was returning with them, Harry had left and found me halfway there. He sent some of the seventh years to help you and led the rest of us outside. He told me we needed to look at the bottom of the Tower. When asked what we were looking for, he said, 'A body, but I hope I'm not right'. Unfortunately-" Susan stopped and turned into Harry.

He put his arm around her shoulders and held her tight.

McGonagall patted her on the shoulder. "I understand, Miss Bones; I feel the same way." She looked at him. "I wished you had shown yourself last night, but I can understand your reasoning, based on recent experiences. Thank you for answering my questions."

— — —

Dumbledore was laid to rest in a white tomb on the school grounds at a large ceremony, on Sunday afternoon. Harry's goal was to stay inconspicuous; he'd succeeded. A weak Notice-Me-Not charm helped to prevent people from giving him more than a glance. He and Susan returned to the castle after a brief conversation with her parents.

* * *

After hugs, promises of letters and visits, and general good-byes, Harry and Susan took the Floo to her home at the end of the week. Her parents were there to greet both of them. Pat pulled her into a hug and Vincent shook Harry's hand warmly.

"I'm glad you're back after a horrible end to the year," Pat said as she let go of Susan and pulled Harry into a hug, while Vincent hugged Susan. "How was your week?"

"All things considered, it went well," Susan answered as they all took a seat in the living room, with each couple on a sofa. I think I did well on my last three exams, especially in Defense with Harry's help." She gave him a bright smile.

"And I did well in my last two, especially in Potions because of Susan's help," he said, returning her smile. "I will say that I was very glad Madam Marchbanks administered the Defense exam. I'm not sure what Snape would have tried to do to me."

"I glad too," Susan added, "but I have to say that it was really kind of weird with all the younger students gone. It was so much quieter and less crowded. The castle felt really empty."

Harry nodded. "I agree. I'm also wondering if the school will reopen next year or not. McGonagall said it would, but she didn't seem all that certain sounding."

"Surely it will," Pat exclaimed. "Hogwarts is always open."

"It probably will be," Vincent said, "but I've heard questions being asked about it so I understand the doubt." The father looked at Harry. "Now that we're here, what are your plans for the summer? You said that you were still thinking about them when we saw you last weekend."

"You're staying here, right?" Susan said, almost demanded.

Harry grabbed her hand. "If your parents don't mind, I'd like to stay here for the first week or so. I do have a house from my godfather, but I need to see how livable it is. After I know that then I'll know if I need to ask for a place to sleep or not."

"Our spare bedroom is always available to you, Harry," Pat insisted and Susan nodded.

Harry noticed that Vincent only smiled but hadn't said he agreed. "In addition," Harry continued, "I was shown Potter Estate for the first time recently. There's nothing left of it, so I'd like to start rebuilding that and I have no idea how long that will take." He looked at Vincent.

"As you can guess," Vincent said, "it depends on what you had in mind. The bigger and more complex it is, the more time and money it will take. It also depends on who you have building it. You'll also want wards to protect it yet that can interfere with the job, if not done correctly. Building a magical estate house is not trivial. However…"

Vincent smiled at him. "I need to do some work on the Bones Estate Manor very soon and the more wizards you have working on it, the faster it goes. If you'll come spend a day or two helping us, I'll give you a detailed tour and answer any question you have, as well as give you any advice you'd like as you work on your rebuilding task."

Harry grinned and said quickly, "I think I'll get the better part, but it's a deal!"

Vincent chuckled. "Perhaps, but you'll earn it as it will be an exhausting day or so. The hardest part will be reestablishing the protective wards, especially powering them."

"Really?" Harry smiled. "I'd be very interested in that part. Also, I may have an idea. I worked with Professor Babbling a little bit on a new rune power sequence and she liked my idea. It mostly worked on a small test case and I've thought of an improvement since then. I'd really like to know if it would work for a house. If it will, then I'll use it on my new house too."

With his own smile, Vincent said, "I look forward to discussing it, perhaps tomorrow."

* * *

(A/N: The great Albus Dumbledore is gone , hence the end of an era. Harry has also dealt with Snape and Draco for the last time as well, so that era is over also. Harry may not want to fight, but he will if forced as seen here.

Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	13. Arrangements

**Chapter 13 - Arrangements**

The next morning was a Saturday and Vincent didn't have to work, so the family had breakfast together. The conversation was light and easy. Harry wondered for a moment if this is what it would have been like if his parents had lived, other than Susan being his girlfriend and not his sister.

After breakfast, Harry noticed that Pat gave her husband a slightly lingering look and received a tiny nod. The mother looked at her daughter and said, "Susan, dear, please go get your wand and anything else you need. I need to go shopping and I'd like you to come with me. I have a few things to teach you about having a home of your own and I think today's the day for that."

Susan gave her a strange look before looking at her father.

He smiled slightly. "Don't worry, dear, Harry will be fine with me. We're going to talk about wards and houses. He'll be just like he is now when you return."

Susan looked like she wasn't sure of that, but didn't say anything and left for her room. Harry wasn't sure what to think about this either as it smelled like ambush; and there _was_ that one outstanding item between him and Vince.

A moment later, Susan was back with a purse over her shoulder and she kissed Harry on the cheek and gave him a wink. She then went to her father and gave him a hug and whispered something to him, which caused him to chuckle and tell her, "I love you too," in a teasing manner. Susan gave him an exasperated look, but otherwise left with her mother.

Vince shook his head and said, "I love them both, but I'm not sure what to do with them at times."

"I feel the same about Susan at times," Harry said, still wondering about this because it seemed he was being set up for something.

"I thought we'd go out back and talk about wards and things, a little planning and such. Butterbeer or something else to drink?" Vince offered.

He'd just finished breakfast not too long ago, so Harry told him, "No thank you."

Vince grabbed a large rolled up piece of parchment that looked like it would be the size of a poster and led them out back to some comfortable chairs where he looked at Harry for a moment. "Well, lad, I suppose we should chase the proverbial elephant out of the room first.

"At Christmas, I asked you how you felt about Susan and your intentions. Susan tells you that you did convince young Master Longbottom to instruct your housemates on Wizarding Traditions, so good job on that. I'll assume you know the basics now, so what is the answer to my question?"

Harry swallowed hard; this was it, he thought. He truly hoped he remembered all of his planned answer. "Mr Bones, I'll say that my feelings for Susan haven't changed. I still like her very much and I will protect her from all harm that I possibly can. She means a lot to me. I think I might even love her, but I'm not sure as I'm a little unsure what true love is.

"We've talked a bit about us and we both like the idea of continuing our relationship. I think it's almost certain we'll make this permanent one day, with your blessing, of course," Harry added the last part hastily.

"I believe you've been dating for nearly ten months, how can you _not_ be sure by now?" Vince asked easily but with a piercing look.

"Well, sir, we both like the idea and plan on it, but I could screw something up. Susan's been doing a brilliant job of trying to teach me how to be a good boyfriend, but I feel like there just so much I don't know about girls and what they want," Harry explained and hoped Vince understood.

To Harry's surprise, Vince laughed lightly and nodded. "Well spoken, Mr Potter. I'm sorry to have to tell you, but while it does get a little easier with experience; you'll never feel like you fully understand women. I've had other men who've been married twice as long as I have tell me that."

Harry sighed. "I see."

"Let us be blunt and wrap this up. Do you plan to marry my daughter one day, if she's willing?" Vince asked him.

Swallowing a little dryly, Harry nodded and said, "Yes sir."

"Very good then; please continue to keep her safe while you work out the details," Vince told him with a smile and held out his hand.

Harry shook it and smiled back, feeling very relieved.

Unrolling the large parchment on a table that was next to them, Vince said, "This is the standard warding for most houses from the basic text used to train most ward crafters in the United Kingdom. Obviously, no one uses this exact plan, at least if they're smart they don't. They add on to it to make it their own."

Nodding, Harry said, "That makes sense because if everyone did the same thing then it'd be easy to break in."

"Exactly," Vince said with a pleased look. "So the problem begins to be how to make it your own. Another issue is one of power. Have you learned about ley lines yet?"

"No, sir."

"Just like you have veins of minerals in the ground, ley lines are veins of magic that run through the ground. It's what helps magic to be everywhere," Vince explained. "And just like you don't have veins of minerals everywhere, there are not ley lines everywhere. If there are no ley lines near you, then you have to pull ambient magic that was radiated from the nearest ley line - one could say you're pulling it out of the air - instead of directly from a potent magical source. As you can imagine, if you don't have that direct access, you are more limited.

"Therefore, if you want access to a lot of magic, you try to build over a ley line. If you can, you try to build over where two cross each other. If you're really lucky, you build where three cross, but those places are rare."

"Where could you find three crossing?" asked Harry; he found this very interesting in a practical sort of way.

"Well, under Stonehenge would be one; under Hogwarts would be another; and it's said that Windsor Castle also sits over three ley lines and is why that family is the ruler of Britain, all started by Merlin and King Arthur according to the legend. If you're wondering, there is no known place on earth that has four ley lines crossing," Vince told him.

"That's interesting," Harry said thoughtfully. "So we build over ley lines if we can so we can draw more power rather than just pulling it out of the air. I also assume there is a way to tell what's underground?"

"Correct in both cases. Do this." Vince showed him a spell which when cast showed a deep red line slowly form on the ground and spread southwest and northeast until the man stopped the spell. "That shows there is at least one ley line under us. You'd have to do the spell from the air and hold it for a minute or so to really see what's here. I've flown a broom and done that and can tell you there is only that one ley line available here.

"Now, if we go to Bones Estate, where my sister lived as she was the eldest, and do the spell then you'd find two ley lines. Most of the older families have that and I'd expect that to be true of the Potters as well. Make sense?" Vince asked.

"Yes, it does. So we just have to pull from the ley line and since it can give us more power, we can make stronger wards," Harry reasoned.

"There's more than it can give us more power, it can also give us power faster," Vince told him. "It's like drinking from a larger glass and with a larger opening. That's much better than a large glass with a very small opening."

Harry looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment. "Maybe that was the problem with my power sequence at school. It pulled up too much magic at once."

"That's possible. Do you have the sequence written down?" Vince asked. "I have a NEWT in Ancient Runes and I've continued to study that on my own. I only have my OWL in Arithmancy for magical theory, but I've picked up more along the way … if you don't mind sharing."

Harry grinned and left, returning a minute later with his drawing; he trusted Vince with this. Spreading it out, he let Vince look at it. After a couple of minutes, Harry began to worry he'd done something very stupid. "Is it that bad?"

Vince shook his head with a bit of disbelief. "Harry, I understand about half of it, but the rest is beyond my understanding. Did you say that you were told you weren't a prodigy at this?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"If you aren't a prodigy, they you certainly have an affinity for runes and warding and you should develop this talent. I'd also tell you to take some Arithmancy or else learn it on your own," Vince advised him.

"I don't understand," Harry told him.

"Harry," Vince looked at him seriously, "a prodigy is someone who will take an art and advance it in about ten major ways and it's usually obvious they are a prodigy from the beginning. Those people are about one in five to ten thousand and appear about once every three to four hundred years in our wizarding population.

"Below them, is someone who has an affinity for an art; they are about one in a thousand and so appear about once or twice a century. Below them, is someone who's gifted and they are about one in hundred. You're very special in this lad and you should pursue it. There's a good chance you'll push the craft forward from one to three major steps in your lifetime. It very possible I'm looking at one of those right now.

"If you're curious, I wouldn't even considered myself gifted in this; however, I do like to work with runes and consider myself an advanced amateur.

"To help you more, I'd advise you should pick up some Arithmancy because it will help you to evaluate your work in a formal and precise way, rather than just by feel and intuition, although that is a strength you have that shouldn't be ignored either.

"What did your professor say when she saw this?" he asked.

"Well, she was excited about my test of this even if it did explode, but I didn't show her the runes. I was afraid to because I didn't want anyone else to try it and get hurt," Harry explained. "I think I may have found a way to make this safer, but I'm not sure and I'm a little afraid to try it. I'd kind of like to show it to Hermione; she might be able to help me since she knows Runes and Arithmancy. I think she would be 'gifted' as you explained it."

"Harry, if you can make this work, I'd be honored if you'd let me use it. I'll even pay you…"

"You don't have to pay me," Harry protested.

Vince put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "If this is as good as I think it might be from what little I can understand, then it's worth a lot of money. Rune masters make very good money and you will need to make a living someday."

Considering it, he nodded finally. "All right, I suppose we can find something to trade for this, maybe?"

"I don't think Susan would like the thought that she was traded for a rune array even if it did let us return to Bones Estate," Vince told him with a twitching expression.

"Oh no, I'd never do that!"

Vince lost it and started laughing. When he could control himself, he said, "I was joking with you, Harry. Why don't you go see your friend about this soon and we'll discuss what to do after we see if it works or not. How's that?"

"Sounds like a plan," Harry agreed. "I'll send Hedwig with a note about a visit. In the meantime, I'll work on this a little more."

— — —

When Susan came home, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the back garden while making sure her parents were still in the house; her father giving her a smirk.

"Are you all right?" she asked a little worriedly.

"I'm fine," Harry replied. "You dad and I got along quite well. He said I had a natural affinity for runes and that if my project works, he'd give me something for helping him."

Susan beamed and hugged him. "That's great, Harry. Do you two talk about, well, us?"

"Of course. We both said that we love you and will never fully understand you," he answered, doing his best to hold his expression. When she narrowed her eyes at him and started to glare, he couldn't hold it any longer and started to laugh, causing her to hit him on the shoulder.

"Oh you," she groused.

"I told him that we were happy and working things out. OK?"

She nodded happily and gave him a hug as well as a brief kiss. "I'll get you back for that," she told him a little teasingly.

* * *

Two days later, the couple took the Knight Bus to the end of Hermione's street and waited until it vanished before walking to their friend's house. Hermione answered the door and eagerly invited them in as well as gave each a hug.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked, looking mostly at Harry, but some at Susan too.

"We're good," Harry told her as Hermione's mother walked in behind her daughter.

"Emma Granger," the woman said and held out her hand, which the two shook.

Harry could see enough similarity to know they were mother and daughter. "It's nice to meet you," Harry told her.

"I've heard so much about you," Emma said looking at Harry, before turning, "and a little about you, Susan. Thank you for being Hermione's friends. Would either of you like something to drink?"

"Ice water or something else cold," Harry answer with Susan saying the same.

Hermione led them into the kitchen and motioned to the kitchen table on the side. "What did you need help with? You were kind of vague in your letter."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want anyone else to know about this." Harry pulled his book bag off of his shoulder and pulled a notebook out of it. Flipping to the proper pages, he opened it and laid it flat with a drawing over the two facing pages.

Hermione snatched it and pulled it in front of her. "Is this your new power sequence?"

"Yeah," he answered as Emma set the glasses on the table and shook her head at her daughter in mirth.

"She's like this at school too?" the mother asked.

Harry looked at his friend who was deep in analysis. "A lot of the time."

"If you don't mind," Emma continued while Hermione was pointing at the drawing as if reading it with her finger and moving her lips as she looked, "what did you think of this last year at Hogwarts?"

He was unsure as to what to say and Hermione's quick flick of her eyes up at him didn't help. However, Susan helped him.

"Mrs Granger, what are you asking? In some ways, it was a great year for us; in others, not so good at all," his girlfriend answered.

"Yes, I'm being vague, aren't I?" Emma looked at them. "With Headmaster Dumbledore gone, do you believe it will be safe next year?"

Hermione's head snapped up and looked at her mother in shock.

Harry thought he understood what was happening now. "Mrs Granger, that is a difficult question because there are so many unknowns, such as what will happen this summer, what will the Ministry of Magic do, what will Voldemort do, and in some ways the most important is what will the populace do?"

"What do you mean by the last one? The others are obviously clear, though I can't answer them."

"Mrs Granger, at many attacks that I see or read about, the normal people who just want to live their lives outnumber the Death Eaters but they all run away screaming when the attack starts," he explained. "Sure, the Death Eaters aren't nice people, but if everyone would just fire two or three spells, the problem would go away fairly quickly. We outnumber the bad guys like a hundred to one. Sure, they try to attack when numbers and surprise are in their favor and ambush people like cowards, but there are enough times they attack a crowd that we could just take them out to get rid of the problem … but very few people do anything.

"I am one of those who's willing to do things to protect others. If Hermione is around me, she should be reasonably safe even without Professor Dumbledore at school next year. Of course, we can all be surprised. You can cross the street in a crosswalk and still get hit by a lorry that runs a red light and that's going to hurt. Life is never **perfectly** safe." He noticed Hermione was looking at him with a little fear, as if maybe she had wanted the answer worded differently, but he was going to be honest with her mother.

"May I give you a piece of advice?" Harry asked and received a nod from Emma. "I don't know how you'd do it, but if you could take a leave of absence and go somewhere else until Christmas, I think that would be for the best. You're not very well equipped to stay here in the middle of a Wizarding war." He looked at his bushy-haired friend, anticipating her question. "I have no basis for that, it's just a feeling. I think it will all be over by then."

"Thank you for being so candid, Harry," Emma told him as she stood. "I don't know that we can leave for that long, but I'll think about it and discuss it with my husband." She walked to the other side of the room and started working on lunch.

Returning to the project, he looked at Hermione. "So, what do you think of that? Vince, Susan's father, gave me the idea that it failed just because I was at Hogwarts and it was drawing too much power from the ley lines. I think I may know how to fix that, but I'm not sure and I don't want to hurt anyone during the next test."

Hermione shook her head and put the notebook on the table between them. "I think I mostly understand what you're doing, but part of it is still difficult. I mean look, you don't have these runes connected properly, and the sequence really shouldn't work at all."

Harry looked at where she was pointing and grinned. "That's because I wasn't sure how to draw what I wanted, sorry. I think I know what the problem with my drawing is and maybe I can explain it with a little help. Susan, come around here please."

Susan walked over and stood next to the table between them. Harry took her hands and placed them on the table with a gap in the middle and he placed one of his hands in the middle, all were end-to-end. "Normal sequences are like this, they're in a line. Sure, they can be curved around the edge of something, but that still just a one dimensional sequence of runes."

"Sure, how else would you do it?" Hermione asked. "You have to be able to read them one after the other and the magic has to flow like an electrical wire, which is one dimensional if you ignore the thickness of it."

"Exactly, but what if we used the other dimensions. A grid would be two dimensional. I can see a way to do that but I haven't found a practical application yet. But my sequence is like this," Harry pulled his hand up and set it on the edge and perpendicular to Susan's hands and then pulled hers to his so that one of her hands was going into his palm and the other into the back of his hand. "By making it a circle and then feeding the power into the center, you power the whole middle part at once, and then the power flows out the other side. In fact, it's not really a circle but more like a sphere because the magic flow pulls the shape that way," he explained, "or so I'd think."

He squeezed Susan's hand and let her sit back down.

Hermione tilted her head and looked back at the diagram, studying it for a moment. "Yes, I see now that you explain it and…" She looked up at him. "Sweet Merlin, Harry, that sequence will be powerful! No wonder it exploded on you. How did you even think this up?"

When he looked down for a moment, Susan spoke up. "My dad says that he thinks Harry has an affinity for runes and warding. He's like the special one in a thousand," she said proudly. "He shouldn't have any trouble becoming a Rune Master if he wants to."

"Err, Hermione," Harry said hesitantly, "you can't show or tell this idea to anyone."

She opened her mouth and then closed it suddenly before she sighed. "I understand, it's your proprietary information. Still, this is incredible."

"So, what do you think about these changes?" he said and pointed to a ring of runes on each side of the middle. "I think these will limit it. I also think Vince was correct that it was because I was over three ley lines; I probably don't need the limiter runes normally."

Hermione left the table and walked over to a drawer and came back with a pen and paper. After scribbling on it for several minutes, something that made no sense to Harry and gave him a clue that Arithmancy might be useful to him after all, Hermione said, "I think he's right, I think it was because you were over three ley lines. I think two should be fine, but you might need to make the output side bigger than the input side if you can. One ley line or none won't be a problem at all."

"Thanks, Hermione!" he beamed at her.

"You're restrictors I'm not so sure about, you'd have to ask Professor Babbling," she said.

"What?" Harry looked taken aback. "Something that Hermione Granger doesn't know?"

"Shut it," she groused sourly, causing the other two to laugh.

"Great, so I can try this when I get back. What wards do you have up here for protection?" Harry asked, curious as to what she had done.

Hermione looked down sheepishly. "I, err, don't really have any up."

Harry put his hands on his hips. "Oh, honestly, Hermione Jane Granger, how could you?" he asked in a slightly girly voice.

Hermione looked down more. A few seconds later, laughter rang out from across the kitchen, surprising the students; they'd forgotten about the mother. Hermione looked betrayed and glared at her.

"Oh, that was priceless, Harry," Emma told him with a short laugh. "You know her well if you can mimic her like that."

"Mum, it wasn't that funny," Hermione complained.

"Yes it was. My only regret is that I didn't have a video camera to record it and to show your father." Emma grabbed the plate of sandwiches she'd been making and walked over to the table.

Hermione huffed at that while Harry chuckled and Susan giggled.

* * *

The next afternoon, Harry was carving runes into four blocks of limestone with a spell Professor Babbling had taught him. Vince was next to him and looking at two of the finished blocks. "These are the newest version of your sequence?"

"Yeah," Harry said as he finished the third block. "They aren't that much different than my originals since we'll be testing them here with only one ley line. I'm not ready to test back at Hogwarts yet." He looked through the window and into the kitchen. "How good a cook is Susan?"

Vince looked in also, seeing the two women; Pat was teaching her daughter to cook a new dish. "She does well when she wants to. Her Potions skills carry over, but she hasn't had a lot of motivation before." He smiled at the young man. "I think you're that motivation for her seriously trying to learn now and I heard the dish is one that you like."

Harry shook his head as he grabbed the last block. "I guess we'll find out this evening." He started carving the block, thinking very carefully about what he wanted. Five minutes later he was fusing the blocks together. Finally, he added that to another rune array Vincent already had for a protective ward. When put together, it would be a larger test of what Harry had done in school.

Walking away from the house and patio, the men set it all down and looked at it.

"Doesn't look like much this way," commented Harry.

"No, but if this works, it'll be brilliant." Vince slapped Harry on the shoulder and stepped back after setting up the control line. "Fire it up."

Harry stepped back also and shot a Stunning spell at a special spot. It really didn't matter what spell he used as long as it was non-destructive; the array just needed to absorb some power as a jump-start. A very light blue dome grew out of the array and spread to cover about three meters in all directions before fading away slowly over about half a minute. Normally for a house, this ward would sit inert and not be activated until an alarm ward turned it on. Harry's spell had acted like the trip alarm and turned it on.

Vince carefully walked closer and slowly moved his left hand to touch the dome. As he was starting to feel a tingle, a red light lit on the array. "Good, the physical proximity alarm ward can detect a person, so it's working." He slammed his hand on the dome and pressed on it. The dome resisted and started to show little blue underneath at that spot while causing the red light to blink and then go solid on the ward stone. Vince relaxed and pulled his hand back, smiling.

"So far so good. I think we need the others now," Harry said and went inside. A minute later, all three came out.

Susan smiled at her boyfriend. "Should I try to walk through it?"

"I think you'd find it very difficult," her father said with a chuckle. "It's a physical protective ward, generally the last defense for a house where you need to keep everything out. You can try to take it down like a Curse Breaker would, or you'd have to overpower it, or you'd spend a lot of effort failing to push through it while hurting yourself in the process. We need your help to test option two, overpowering it. Let's start with a Stunning spell on three." He counted off and they all fired; then they all dove out of the way as the spells came back at them.

The women didn't look pleased but Vince was grinning. "Splendid, really splendid." Pat shot him a sour look as she brushed grass off of herself but he ignored her. "Again, but away from you so the ricochet doesn't hit anyone." Again they tried and though they didn't have to dive, the dome stayed up, the blue spots from the spell fire flaring only slightly before fading back to transparent.

"Blasting hexes?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Blasting hexes." Vince looked at them all and counted off again.

As the dirt and grass settled down from the four ricocheted hexes, they noticed the dome was up and still at full strength according to the strength monitor lights. "Damn," Harry said quietly, "that's what took down my one at school but this stayed up."

"One more time," Vince called. It stayed up and the ward was still at full strength. "I'm very impressed."

Pat gave Harry a hug and whispered, "Very good dear, he's hard to impress with this sort of stuff." She turned and left for the house. Susan gave him a hug and quick kiss before leaving too.

"Now what?" Harry asked.

"Now we have to take it down and examine it for damage. Fortunately, this is a small enough field I can take it down from the outside with our control." Vince shot a spell at the control line that travelled outside the wards to shut it all off.

After they'd finished examining it a few minutes later and found it damage-free, he looked at Harry. "I'm definitely impressed and I want to test a larger version of this at Bones Estate."

Harry nodded, happy that Vince liked him and his work. Susan's dinner turned out very well too.

* * *

Susan was spending the day with Hannah, Megan, and Lilith, so Harry decided today was a good time to go check out the Black home and decide what to do with it.

Starting at the bottom, he checked it out. The basement was mostly kitchen and storage. The ground floor were the public areas: dining room, parlor, family living room. There was a "back staircase" that led to the library and study with no other way out. Going back to the ground floor, he went up the main staircase. He found an almost hidden door into the library and study. Amused, he looked at it long enough to figure out how to open it via a hidden handle.

Back to the first floor, it and the next floor were otherwise filled with bedrooms. The third floor was the attic and still smelled like Hippogriff, he thought, even if the noble animal had been removed. Looking at one last door allowed him to find stairs to the roof. The view of all the other row houses was interesting but not really exciting.

Returning to the house, there were really only two rooms of any interest to him. Heading to his bedroom first, he looked around at all the things that were Sirius's. It made his heart ache a little, but he recognized thoughts and feelings about his godfather weren't as raw now - a year later he realized.

Seeing his birthday present from Dumbledore, which he'd forgotten about, he went over to open them. In one box, he found forty-eight small phials, each filled with a slightly glowing slivery strand; there was also a note.

 _Harry,_

 _Here are a number of memories for your viewing pleasure since you already have a Pensieve. Some will be fun for you, such as those of your parents, some will be instructional, and I believe some will be helpful for you as you go through life. If you need any help with who people are or a topic, please ask Minerva. She hasn't seen these but she should be able to help you nevertheless._

 _Happy Birthday and I'm very pleased you have made it to adulthood and I anticipate good things for you._

 _Faithfully,_

 _Albus Dumbledore_

Harry considered the note. Since it was almost the same as the Headmaster had told him in person, he assumed the old man had planned to give this to him whether they had seen each other that night or not. Looking over the phials carefully, he noticed that only one of them was labeled and it merely said "First". He was almost certain the lack of labels was the Headmaster's way to force him to look at some memories Harry wouldn't have otherwise.

Setting that to the side, he opened the other and smaller box and found the destroyed diary from his second year and a ring with a gold stone. In the bottom was a drawing of a cup with a badger on the side and of a locket with a snake on it; the locket looked vaguely familiar but he dismissed it. Harry thought those were odd things to give as a present.

Leaving the memories for another day, one when he had Susan with him, he walked back to the library and study - the only other room that seemed to be of value to him. At the moment, he was of the mind to just sell the house after removing the books and the few other things he wanted. Of course, he couldn't do that until Potter Manor was rebuilt and safe to live in.

Checking out the desk in there, he found a few papers but nothing significant, which seemed unusual to him. He really doubted all important papers were in a Gringotts vault. Walking around the room one last time, he suddenly realized the bookcase on one wall jutted out while the wall in the corridor behind it had been straight.

Casting a few spells, he found nothing specific … just a hint of magic in a very narrow vertical streak going down the wall which seemed like a "leak" and could mean almost anything. Frustrated, because he knew there was something going on, especially with a hidden door to the family area on the other wall, Harry called, "Kreacher, come!"

The elf popped in. "Yes, Master?"

"Kreacher, I believe there's something special about this bookcase and there's either a doorway here or a hidden area. How do you open it?" When the elf dithered, Harry gave him a glare. "Kreacher, as head of the house of Black, I command you to show me the secrets of this room."

Kreacher stiffened for a moment before saying, "Yes, Master. There is a hidden door to the bedrooms on the wall behind me. There is a hidden compartment in the bottom drawer of the desk on the right side. There is a hidden door behind the bookcase in front of you."

"Amazing," Harry murmured. "Are there any other secret doors or rooms in the house?"

"No, Master, all are in this room."

He'd check out the desk later. "How do you open the bookcase?"

Kreacher looked like he didn't want to answer, but said, "Pull out the book handle, third to the left on the right end of the shelf at the height of your head."

Because he was asking questions, Harry also asked, "How do I open the secret compartment in the desk?"

"You will find a key in the master's secret study behind the bookcase."

Interesting, he thought. "Did Sirius ever go in there?"

"Kreacher thinks not. He never asked."

"And your Master Regulus?" Harry asked.

"Kreacher thinks not also."

This would be like stepping back in time then, he thought. "Thank you, Kreacher. You may return to what you were doing." He watched the elf back up to the doorway and stop, watching him. Shrugging, Harry reached up and grabbed the indicated book, and thick dark brown leather one with no label, like many of the others on this shelf.

He felt the book resist him so he pulled a little harder. When it had moved about the width of his hand, he heard a click and book case moved slowly left. Now he understood, the reason he couldn't find a magical trigger was because the trigger was mechanical. He thought that was smart because most wizards wouldn't look harder when they didn't find anything magical.

As the book case moved aside, he noticed a narrow staircase going down. That shouldn't have fit in the space available, so he knew area expansion wards were at work and was probably the magic he'd detected earlier. Pulling his wand out and lighting it, he entered slowly. His foot on the first step turned on lights, but he kept his wand out anyway.

It was a long way down, far enough to make Harry think he was now in what should have been the basement two floors below where he started. Looking around, he saw a room about the size of the study above. There was another large desk with a comfortable looking chair and a single book shelf that was mostly filled with normal looking books. Lastly, a single comfortable wingback chair and small table was sitting near a small unlit fireplace. That was it for furniture; there were two doors though.

Opening the first door showed him a smallish room with a single large crystalline rock that glowed slightly - obviously the house's ward stone. That was good to know, he thought as he considered that he could learn from that as to what he could put on his house.

Going to the other door, he opened it and was puzzled to see a short corridor with three other doors, each with a small sliding panel at head height. Opening the panel on the first door, he saw nothing as it was dark inside. When he tried to open it, he realized the door was locked. Looking around, he found a large key on a nail on the wall. That key opened the lock and Harry found - if he ignored all the dust - what looked like a fairly nice bedroom, if you liked lace.

Shrugging, he left that room and went to the other, which was also locked. The same key opened it and he pushed the door open and held his lit wand up. Harry slammed the door closed as fast as he could, his heart pounding as he realized what the unfurnished room with a mummified corpse chained to the wall was for. He had no idea how long the prisoner had been there nor who "it" had been, but it was not something he wanted to think about. Perhaps he'd have Kreacher clean that out.

Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to open the last door, but he decided he had to know what was down here. It was with great trepidation that he opened the last door and looked in, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn't find a corpse but instead wooden boxes stacked fairly neatly. Looking in half of a dozen of them, he shook his head and muttered, "I guess they didn't fully trust Gringotts." Each box was filled with golden Galleon coins. He wondered what else he'd find in the other boxes, but decided to leave that adventure for another day.

Putting the key back on the nail, he went back to the main room and looked at the desk. It was clean on top, so he started looking in the drawers. There were a number of papers and Harry flipped through some. He found titles to other houses, proof of partial ownership in the Nimbus broom company (which made him wonder if he could get a discount there), and in the last drawer were notes on a few other families … probably secrets for blackmail given the corpse in the jail cell.

Still, he'd found no key for the desk upstairs, so he opened the middle drawer and found the usual desk items plus a small black box. Opening the box, he found a golden ring with a blood red gem stone, a ruby he decided, and it had the Black coat of arms on each side of the wide band. "The family ring," he mused, thinking back to Neville's classes in which his friend had said that most old families had such a ring to show who was head of the family.

Not really thinking about it and being the Gryffindor that he was, he put the ring on his finger. A couple of seconds later, he felt the ring send a jolt of magic through him before it glowed briefly and then shrunk slightly to be secure on his finger. Now that it was over, he looked at it and shook his head as he realized how foolhardy he had been. Well, it was done. Putting the ring box back on the desk, it sat there for a few seconds before it seemed to melt through the desk top like a ghost and reappear in the middle drawer. "Amusing," he breathed.

As Harry was about to leave, he looked at the bookcase one more time and suddenly saw a large book on the bottom shelf that he didn't remember seeing before. He was sure he would have noticed it because it was so large. Reaching down, he grabbed it and laid it on the desk. There was no title, but opening it solved the mystery.

"The Black Family Grimoire." He grinned at the treasure, wondering what he'd find in here. Closing it, he picked it up and started to go upstairs. Started being the operative word as he practically slammed into an invisible wall at the bottom of the stairs. Thinking about it, he set the big book on the desk and tried again, successfully reaching them this time.

"That puts a damper on things," he said to the room as he stared at the book. Shrugging, he left it there and went back up the stairs. Now, he wasn't so sure what to do with the house, because that book was a real treasure and probably not something to let fall into just any hands. He supposed he'd know after he read it and he definitely would.

Back up in the public study on the first floor, he opened the desk there. Searching, he finally found the place that Kreacher had indicated. It had taken awhile because there was no keyhole but a small round indention. Harry placed the family ring in it and the compartment slid open thanks to magic. He was disappointed to find it empty.

Besides the fact that Harry knew he needed the house until Potter Estates was finished, he decided that he'd have to keep the house until he could figure out how things worked here. Perhaps he could break the protections on the Grimoire book and then remove all the other valuables before selling it - maybe.

— — —

Susan laughed at Megan's joke about Ernie, along with Hannah and Lilith. "This has been a fun afternoon, but I really have to go," she told them all.

"Why? Need to go snog Harry?" Lils teased her, causing giggles all around.

"That's always fun, but no," Susan told them with a smile.

Megan smirked at her a little. "You haven't said, but how far has Harry tried to go? I assume he knows your bra cup size?" The other two, even Hannah, looked very interested.

Susan shook her head and snorted in exasperation. "Get your minds out of the gutter. Harry is a gentleman. In fact, one of his better qualities is that he doesn't push me in that way and lets me set the pace physically."

"Uh-huh, right," Megan said disbelievingly.

"Probably true," Hannah said with a nod. "Neville hasn't pushed me either and I think he and Harry are a lot alike."

"They are," Susan confirmed. "They're both pretty easy-going. Harry isn't perfect and has his own issues, but I don't have to worry about him like I would about most boys."

Hannah looked at her thoughtfully. "Like what? I know that he's not perfect and the pedestal most girls put him on is just stupid, but what would you change in him?"

Susan considered what to say, or perhaps could say. "It's rarely his fault, but he gets himself in trouble more often that I'd like; it's like trouble seems to find him."

"So all those stories we hear about him at school are true?" Lils asked.

"Mostly," Susan said, not really wanting to talk about them because she thought Harry wouldn't. "However what's maybe more important to me is that he doesn't seem to always tell me things as soon as I'd like. He's told me things I know he hasn't told others, but I still wonder what he's keeping secret."

"You haven't asked?" Hannah queried earnestly.

Susan shrugged. "Kinda afraid to, honestly." She sighed. "Worse, I think that if I asked I'd find that there's really nothing there and that it's all in my mind like before."

"What do you mean?" asked Hannah.

"I was worried about Hermione and Harry," Susan answered and received three knowing nods. "Turns out he sees her more like a sister so there was really nothing there."

"And the youngest Weasley?" Megan asked.

"Pretty much the same," Susan said. "I think that one could go somewhere if I wasn't with him, but you know what they say … If you want the good stuff…"

"Go with a Hufflepuff!" all four chorused and laughed at their inside joke.

Susan rose. "I really do have to go and I need to get a couple of small hand mirrors at the store." She stopped suddenly and looked at Hannah. "Harry hasn't told me what they're for, but I get the feeling that they'll be useful. When you come over tomorrow, you might want to bring a pair with you."

"What would he do with them?" Hannah asked.

"He read something in his godfather's journal that made him think it would be useful to us and told me to get them. I'm just sharing what I was told. Ta-ta!" Susan left with a smile, heading to a local store near her home, using a little Muggle money that she had.

— — —

When Susan arrived home, a small bag in hand, she found Harry and her father talking about wards again. She shook her head at the pair. While they seemed to enjoy it, she didn't find it all that interesting. She didn't hate Runes, they just didn't hold a fascination for her.

Her mother called them to dinner which ended the discussion and they all sat down together.

Susan looked at Harry and asked, "What did you find at your house today?"

"I learned more about the Blacks. It was really strange to me considering what I've heard of them. In some ways, they're aren't as bad as they've been made out to be; but in others, yeah, not pleasant. I'm not totally sure what to do about the house, but I can't sell it until I figure out how to deal with a few parts of it," Harry explained.

"Oh, so that is considered the Black Estate?" Vince asked. "I'd always wondered if that was the Estate home or just their London home."

"I found the Black head of house ring there," Harry held up his hand to show it, "and the family Grimoire, so I believe it's safe to say that's the Estate house." The others nodded. "I also found a corpse hidden away and it looked pretty old based on the style of the clothes and all the dust on it." At Susan's disgusted look, he added, "I know, I was pretty shocked."

"Shocking, yes, but not completely surprising," Vince said. "My guess is that it was last century, but it's really impossible to say without looking at it."

"Would you look at it?" Harry asked suddenly. "It would probably be good to return it to family; they might like that."

"I would if you like, but it's also possible we can't identify the person; it might have even been a Muggle. It also might be better, politically, not to identify it."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. So maybe I should just have the house-elf just get rid of it or else just Vanish it myself?" Harry asked, looking like he was thinking out loud.

"It might be best since you inherited the problem, not caused it," Vince agreed.

"Right, I can do that." Harry seemed to come to a decision and nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. Still, that's not what stops me from selling the house. The Family Grimoire is confined to the room it's in, and until I can break whatever is holding it there, I can't really sell the house. I don't want whatever is in there to fall into other hands."

"It's probably tied to the main ward stone and that will be hard to break."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that occurred to me and the main ward stone is in the next room. Still, I don't have to deal with it now because I need a place until Potter Estate is ready for me."

"You said you'd take me to see your family estate," Susan said suddenly, causing her boyfriend to look at her with amusement. "Hannah and Neville are coming over tomorrow, so maybe the day after?"

"Sure," Harry said easily and grinned at her. "We can have a picnic there if you like."

Susan smiled pleased with herself. Her parents just looked at her in amusement, if they only knew what she was thinking.

* * *

As they finished breakfast and Vincent left for work, the Floo chimed and Susan walked over to make sure it was Hannah before she let their visitor through.

"Hi, Harry; hi Mrs Bones," Hannah called happily, dressed for summer in a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals with her blonde hair in a pony-tail. She had a small brown paper package in her hand.

"Hello, Hannah dear," Pat returned as she gathered her things before looking at her daughter. "I'll be back in about an hour. You four stay here and behave - wait, I thought Neville was coming over too."

"He's probably just running a little late. Go ahead, Mum; we'll be fine here." Susan smirked at her boyfriend. "Harry can defend us from anything."

"That's not what I'm worried about," the mother said with a hint of exasperation as if they might start trouble before she left via the Flow Network for the shopping area in Wales.

Susan turned and looked at him mischievously. "Go get the mirrors so you can show Hannah what you made last night. We'll be in the back garden." She looked at her female friend. "It's really brilliant."

Harry shook his head and left for his room. When he'd made the communication mirrors last night for them, she had been in awe and they'd talked for an hour after they'd gone to bed and her parents didn't know they were still up. He had grudgingly agreed to make a pair for Neville and Hannah _**if**_ they asked nicely and promised not to tell others. Harry didn't want to have to make a pair for a lot of people.

Returning, Harry walked through the back door and then turned to head over to the little pond and fountain, where he'd heard their voices. As he walked around a large potted shrub, he froze, not being able to not gawk at the pair of girls on the pond wall. Each was wearing only a yellow bikini top and a pair of shorts, one bare foot in the pond and one on the outside, straddling the short rock wall they both sat on. It wasn't until he heard their giggles that he'd realized his brain had frozen too.

"Come on over, Harry," Susan called sweetly as she beckoned him with a waving hand.

It was a great struggle not to look at Hannah and to focus on only his girlfriend. Both were pretty, but he'd never seen Hannah like this, not that he had much experience with Susan like this either, but he had seen his girlfriend in only a T-shirt and shorts before.

"It's all right to look, Harry," Susan told him. "Touching or anything else might cause you not to be able to ever have children, but I'm not bothered by you looking at her."

Harry gulped at her threat and at her predatory smile. Still, Susan was very pleasant to look at. The standard bikini top showed that she was definitely a girl. Seamus had once said that he thought Susan had a large bust, but Harry decided that this was a case where looks were deceiving. Susan had fairly average sized breasts; it's just that on her petite frame they looked a little larger. He also couldn't help but noticed that her shorts were much smaller than normal, showing a lot of leg and stomach.

"You look great, Susan. Your, err," how should he say this, he wondered. "Your extra efforts to work on your weight are really working out well for you." He saw Hannah go wide-eyed and realized he probably could have worded that much better. Fortunately for him, Susan laughed lightly, doing really pleasant things to her bikini top.

"Did he just call you fat?" Hannah almost croaked in surprise.

Susan shook her head. "No, but he did tell me once I needed to eat a little more and I have been. On the other hand," she looked up at Harry now, "I think you making me exercise with you in your training sessions may have helped more; but I'm glad you like what you see. Since you don't have your shoes on, come over here and sit behind me." When Harry did so, she grabbed his hands and put them around her on her stomach. "Hold me while we talk."

Harry pulled her to him and rested his chin on her shoulder and she pulled her hair around to the other shoulder to get it out of his way. It allowed him to look right at Hannah now and she sat there and let him look for a moment. While he thought Susan still needed to add a little more weight, Hannah needed to lose a little, in his opinion. Even so, it made Hannah curvier and in a good way; she carried her weight well and was quite pleasant to look at. He also noticed that Hannah was wearing very normal shorts, not the very short ones that Susan was wearing.

"I believe you had a question for Harry," Susan told her friend.

Hannah shook her head at her friend's antics. "Harry, Susan said you made these communication mirrors for you two and said you might make some for me and Neville." She held up the package of mirrors while she batted her eyes at him, "Please?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, which caused Susan to giggle. "All right, all right," he caved much faster that he would have thought otherwise. Opening his eyes, he saw Hannah smiling brightly at him. "Neville is going to be in so much trouble when you do that to him." Both girls laughed at him.

The fireplace made a chiming sound announcing someone wanting to come through.

"I need to let Neville through," Susan said and stood slowly to allow Harry to let her go.

She walked away slowly with a little extra motion in her hips, her short-shorts barely covering everything, which Harry watched avidly. Just before she got to the door, she did a charm on her top and it slowly lengthened to be short T-shirt in the same bright yellow and still showing a lot of stomach. Her shorts also started to lengthen as she disappeared in the house.

A shirt suddenly flew through the air and almost hit Harry in the head. He turned and saw Hannah catch it and then pull it over her head, covering up her very nice curves. "It was Susan's idea to help make the asking a little nicer," she said with a smirk.

Harry almost told her flatly that the show wasn't needed, because it wasn't; but he suspected that might not be the right thing to say based on her expression. Instead, he told her, "While not required, it was appreciated. Neville's a lucky bloke."

She smiled - looking very pleased - and lifted her foot that was in the water and dropped it back down, splashing and enjoying the moment.

Susan returned a moment later, looking very normal, with Neville following her.

"Hey, mate," Harry called out.

"Harry," the boy returned but with eyes on his girlfriend.

Susan retook her position in front of Harry, placing his hands back around her middle. Neville wasn't as forward, at least in other company, and merely sat beside Hannah.

"So what are we doing today?" Harry asked.

"Have some fun together," Susan answered, "as well as watch you make a couple of mirrors for our friends."

"What mirrors?" Neville asked. He looked very pleased when Hannah explained it to him.

Despite the bit of charms work he did that afternoon, Harry enjoyed the day greatly. He did wonder if maybe all of his summers might have been spent with friends if his parents had lived, but he pushed that thought away quickly.

— — —

After dinner that evening, Vince and Pat left on a quick errand, although Pat looked a little apprehensive. Because they'd promised to stay at the house, Susan took Harry out back and curled up on his lap after setting him in a lounge chair.

"Comfortable?" he teased her.

"Getting there," she teased back as she grabbed his hand and pulled. Getting the message, he put his arm around her and held her tightly.

"Better," she told him. "Harry, can we talk about something?"

"Sure."

"Do you…" She hesitated for a moment. "Have you told me all of your secrets?"

Harry was very surprised. "We all have secrets," he answered, "but I think you know all my big ones. Why do you ask?"

Susan angled her head up and looked at him for a moment. "Oh, OK, thanks. I don't know, but it seems like you surprise me with things that I thought I should have already known but didn't."

He gave a small snort. "Susan, you surprise me daily and on some days hourly. I know a lot more about girls now, but I still feel lost half of the time." He paused and took a deep breath and she let him. "Honestly, there are times I'm so scared I'm going to screw something up and you'll leave me. You and getting together with you are probably the best things that have ever happened to me and I don't want to lose that …or lose you."

She smiled and squeezed the shoulder she was holding. "Thank you for telling me that, and I don't think you have anything to worry about if you keep on like you have been so long as you're true to me."

"You have nothing to worry about there," he told her a little forcefully. "Although, that does make me think of a question I've been meaning to ask you."

"Oh?"

"Err, I don't understand why you seem to so…" Harry stopped to search for the right word that seemed to elude him. "I guess, well, why you're so willing to allow other girls to be so close to me at times, like this morning."

"You mean why I let you see Hannah like that?"

"Yeah, that's one. The other that comes to mind is when you let Hermione and Ginny snuggle up to me at Christmas," he told her.

"Oh," she said quietly before perking back up. "Today is easy, that was a joke and I knew nothing would happen. Besides, it wasn't like you saw more of her than you did of me."

"That's for sure," he muttered.

"Did you like what you saw? I know you mentioned seeing me with no clothes on once, but I think what you saw today is about the most you'll get to see for a while."

"I enjoyed it a lot," he admitted and squeezed her. "You've gained a little more weight and it looks really good on you. Then again, you've always been attractive to me."

"Thank you," she told him with a smile.

"What about at Christmas?" he asked again.

Susan sighed. "That was different. It had been a very trying day for all of us. I recognize that they're your good friends and, honestly, we all needed a little extra comfort. I knew nothing would happen in that setting. I also talked with them later and made sure they knew it was a one-time thing."

"Oh," he said, definitely surprised.

"They're your friends, Harry, and I'll never ask you to stop being their friend. Those two get extra leeway I wouldn't allow others, but there definite limits even for them," she explained.

"All right, that makes me feel better to know," he told her.

"You're mine, Harry," she said as she stretched up and kissed him. Light kisses eventually turned into heaving snogging.

A few minutes later, their fun was interrupted by the back door opening and the teens smartened themselves hastily and resumed only cuddling.

Vince and Pat walked around the shrubs and stopped looking at them, Pat with a smirk and Vince with resignation.

"Harry," Vince started the conversation. "We just tested your example wards near Bones Estate and they worked just fine, both versions. If you're still willing, I'd like to incorporate them into the existing design."

"Yes sir, that won't be a problem; go ahead."

"Thank you and I will uphold my end of the bargain as well. Would you be willing to help us open up Bones Estate this Saturday?" Vince asked. "I know that's more than I originally asked, but it would be helpful and I'll explain anything you'd like to know."

"Of course, sir."

"Very good." He looked at both of them for a moment, his serious expression not changing. "Would it be possible for you to ask your two friends, Mr Longbottom and Miss Abbot to join us? I'd like to use them for lookouts since we'll be unable to do that while we change everything."

"I think they'll help us," Susan answered. "What time?"

"Tell them ten in the morning." With one last look, Vince said, "Thank you" before leaving.

"Be careful you don't go too far, you two," the mother told them with a hint of a smile threatening to show itself, looking more at her daughter before leaving.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	14. Homes

(A/N: Apparently the site has/had something wrong it as there appear to be no reviews for ch 13. However, if you left a review I did see it - thank you.)

 **Chapter 14 - Homes**

The next day, with a packed picnic basket in hand, Harry Side-Along Apparated Susan to Potter Estate as this was her first time there. Like McGonagall had done for him, he took her to the ruined front gate. There was a paved road behind them, but it looked like it hadn't seen maintenance in a long time with all the cracks in it.

"I don't know how big the Estate really is," he said as he waved his hand slowly to indicate the land in front of them, "but this is obviously one edge." He led her in as she nodded, taking all the sights in.

A couple of minutes later, they were at the end of the long drive and they stopped in front of where the house used to be. "This _was_ the main house," he said, pointing to the large blackened stone area in front of them. "I believe there was an outbuilding of some sort back there," indicating a smaller black spot off to the side and behind the main house. "I can only guess as to what happened. I was wondering what your dad might tell me."

Susan shook her head. "My guess would be Fiendfyre, at least for the scorching and all of the insides gone; but even Fiendfyre shouldn't have destroyed the outer walls as stone will block the magic. They must have done other spells too."

"I was thinking that as well," he told her. "Please step back so you don't get hurt; there were a few things I wanted to do while we were here and before we enjoyed ourselves."

She slowly backed up towards the large tree behind them while Harry stood his ground. Lifting his hands slightly, a light whirlwind stirred and moved around the old foundation. After the entire foundation had been swept, the column of wind moved to the side and then just stopped, dumping all of the fine dust it had picked up.

Almost instantly, a little larger whirlwind did the same thing, but dumped its contents into a different pile. Harry did that five times in total, each stronger than the previous, with the last one picking up the rubble so the foundation was completely clean.

When he walked over to the piles, Susan joined him. As he sifted through the second through fourth piles, she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Besides cleaning, I'm looking for anything of value that was left." He held up a spoon. "Probably from my family's silverware." When he was done, he had six pieces of cutlery, three parts of broken cookware, and four buckles - all metal. Harry put it all in their picnic basket to take back.

"Shall we?" Harry said as he led them over to the large shade tree Susan had been near. He pulled out the blanket that was inside, leaving the food for the moment.

Susan pulled her wand out and cast a thin cushioning charm on the ground before Harry spread out the blanket. As he sat down, she turn the wand on herself and her blouse shrunk up, leaving a hand-sized band of skin around her middle and above her jeans, which she'd worn because she knew Harry liked her in them and she wasn't sure what they'd be up to today. Dropping her wand on the blanket next to the basket, she knelt down next to him and then sat in his lap, her arms going around his neck.

"You seem to like my lap," he commented with a grin as he looked her over.

"I do."

"Err, where am I supposed to put my hands?" he wondered aloud.

"Where you did yesterday," she told him as if it should have been obvious. "You didn't seem to have trouble touching my stomach then."

"Well, you put my hands there. I don't mind, but I just wasn't sure."

"Harry, I appreciate you letting me set the speed of this relationship, but it's time to go a little further," she told him. "You can touch my middle any time you want, my back too. In fact, if you can put your hands on my bare skin there, you should."

"But…" He looked confused.

"Harry, what was one of the first boyfriend lessons I gave you? If your girlfriend asks for something simple and reasonable…"

"It's best to just give it to her," he completed after her pause. After only a little hesitation, he put both hands on her bare sides.

"Very good," she told him with an impish smile. "I like that, but if you want to caress me, you can. I'm not ticklish. If your hands try to go somewhere I'm not comfortable, be assured that I'll tell you." As he did that, she pulled herself closer and kissed him slowly and deeply. They spent the next few minutes doing only that.

When Harry could speak again, he grinned and told her, "You're not only beautiful but brilliant too."

She laughed lightly and shook her head to swing her hair back. "Careful Harry, you might get more than you've bargained for, at least one day."

"I can hardly wait," he said his grin not dissipating.

Susan crawled off of him and went to the basket and began pulling plates and food out, her smile not leaving her either.

After a leisurely lunch, Harry grabbed her hand and led her around the property and to the top of a nearby hill. She moved in front of him and he put her hands around her stomach and pulled her to him as they looked around. There was a little pastureland, but most of the surrounding land looked to be forest.

"I like it," she told him softly.

"I'm glad." He slouched and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Could you live here, you know, if we had a house?"

"Definitely," she said, pleased he was thinking that way.

He led her back, stopping where the outbuilding used to be. He cleaned that area and found some metal things he had trouble identifying, other than a few hand tools.

Walking back over to the house, he stopped in the middle. Since she was holding his hand, Susan asked, "What?" as he tilted his head from side to side.

"That spot on the floor; it looks a little different to me. Does it to you?"

She looked where he was pointing and around it a little. "No, I don't see anything different."

"Maybe I'm imagining things then," he said with a shrug, looking like he might have had an idea but knowing there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. "Shall we go back?"

"Back to the blanket? Yes," she told him impishly and led him.

"Not home?" he asked confused.

Not really saying anything, she pulled him down to the blanket and then pushed him down. Susan lay beside him and started kissing again. It didn't take long before she was lying on top of him and his hands were slowly moving all over her back. They each thought it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

— — —

While Susan was using a conjured brush on her now messy hair before they returned home so too many questions she really didn't want to answer were asked, Harry was folding the blanket to put back in the basket. It also occurred to him that they had a little time before they had to be back and he had planned to do one more thing next time he was out with Susan.

"Hey, there is one more thing we need to do before we return," Harry told her as he put the folded blanket away. "I'd like your help at my other house."

Susan stopped and looked at him. "I really hope you don't mean in getting rid of the corpse you found in the dungeon."

He grimaced slightly. "No, but it would be a good idea to do that soon. No, Dumbledore gave me a present just before he died; he called it my birthday present. I wanted you with me when I looked at it. I can only guess about part of it and I'd like you with me when we look at some of the items in the box."

She tied her hair back into a ponytail with the original ribbon as she looked at him and considered his request. "He gave you a birthday present?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't realize you two were so close," she answered before vanishing the brush.

"We weren't at the end, hence why I want you there." He paused for a moment. "I don't believe he'd have given me anything that would hurt me, but I'm still not sure I can trust him either. He's … messed with my life in more ways than I like to consider."

"All right," she told him. "I think you'll have to take me one more time."

"Sure." Harry grabbed the basket and then put his other hand on her arm.

At a nod from her, he Side-Along Apparated her to the front porch. He opened the door quickly and walked in, closing the door after her. "Shush," he reminded her very softly before leading her to the stairs and up. He took her to his bedroom and set the basket down.

"I'm sorry, but the more I see the more I think the house could use some … updating," she said apologetically.

Harry snorted. "Nothing I haven't thought before. It's a large part of why I've been wondering if I want to keep it, besides the fact that it has memories I don't like. Still, it has its uses."

He walked over to the two packages on the bed and stared for a moment. "I suppose I need to get on with it and show you." He opened the first box again and showed her that it had forty-eight little partitions with potion phials plus a folded note on top. The phial in the lower left corner had a "First" on it; none of the others were marked. Pulling one out, he showed her that it contained a slightly glowing silver mass of what looked like hairs.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"They are memories for something, and what I'm a little afraid of." He opened the note and handed it to her.

"There could be some very interesting things in there," she commented with a hint of excitement after she finished reading the letter. "I bet there's some really great magic mentioned."

Harry stared at them for a moment with a bit of dread. "Possibly," he said after a moment, "but is it worth it to learn it this way?"

"What do you mean and what are you afraid of?"

"Susan…" he said a little louder and harsher than he really meant and stopped himself. "I'm sorry, I was about to take out my frustration on you and that's not fair."

Putting a hand on his shoulder, she smiled slightly. "Thank you, Harry; I'm glad you're learning to control that."

He nodded as he looked away and closed his eyes for a moment. "I've told you that he has tried to control my life in various ways, mostly bad."

"I remember, starting with placing you with your aunt," she told him.

"Yes." He took a deep breath as she patiently waited. "As you can see, he's presented the temptation of placing memories of my family in here that he knows I'll really want to watch. I'm sure he's also mixed in memories of the current war that he's been trying to talk to me about all of last year and that he knows I don't want anything to do with. So by not labeling them, he's trying to force me to watch the ones I don't want to get to the ones I do want."

"Oh," she said quietly and they both stood there looking at the phials and thinking. "What if I watch them first and then I can tell you which ones you want and which to avoid. We can mark them too."

He looked at her lovingly. "I had thought of that, but I didn't want to ask you to do it … it didn't seem fair to you."

"Thank you for your consideration," she said with a gentle smile, "but I can help you in this way. I'm not sure we have the time now though."

"Yeah, probably not," he agreed and wrapped her in his arms, his hand softly caressing her bare lower back, causing her to sigh contentedly. "I like this, Susan, but you should probably lengthen your blouse back to its original size."

Now her sigh was deeper and sounded resigned. "Yeah, good idea; Mum probably wouldn't be happy and say I was leading you on." She pulled back and smirked at him. "Is it working?"

Harry chuckled lightly before bending his neck slightly and kissing her lightly. "Yes it is, you lovely minx."

Susan looked very pleased and delighted with the teasing as she reverted the earlier transfiguration. "What's in the other box?"

"Just some old things that are almost certainly referenced in the memories, including the old diary that I destroyed in my fight with the basilisk," he explained, causing her to shudder at the memory of the tale.

"We can figure it out later," she told him. "Let's go home, Harry. Leave that here since it's probably safest this way. I think we should have complete privacy when we look one day."

"Absolutely," he agreed as he closed the box back up before leading her downstairs so they could Apparate to her home. He really was in no hurry to look through the memories.

* * *

On Friday afternoon, Harry had come to a decision about an issue that had been on his mind. He sat beside Susan for a moment; she had been in the back garden doing her summer Herbology homework. "Hey, since you're busy there, I need to leave for a few minutes to take care of something."

Putting her quill down, she looked at him. "What?"

This wasn't Hermione, he reminded himself, still… "Just a little something for the house. I won't be long."

"Harry," she said with a hint of warning.

He considered what they'd talked about earlier in the week. "I, uh, I've decided I don't want the Black Estate house and I definitely don't want Kreacher as I don't fully trust him, so I'm going to sell them both, probably in a couple of years."

"I can understand," she told him, "but why the secrecy?"

"Maybe it's wrong of me," he said looking down, "but I've found that I like having a house-elf to take care of things to give me more time for other things. I'll always treat any house-elf with respect, but…"

"But they're very useful," she completed for him and received a nod. "It's all right, Harry, I really do understand. I'm sure we could both name a few people who think that they **must** have a house-elf to live and they ignore the poor creatures and even abuse them; but I know neither of us are like that. Each of us will always treat them with respect. I really don't mind." She caressed the side of his head and smiled at him.

"Err, OK, thank you." He was actually a little surprised at her answer, but he considered that maybe Hermione had influenced him too much the other way.

"So, where are we going to get one?"

"We?" he asked, surprised yet again.

"Yes, I'm going with you," she told him matter-of-factly. "So where are we going? I know house-elves aren't sold at a normal store, although I'm sure there must be some place to get one."

"Well, I happen to know a free elf and I was hoping to convince him to join me. I was, err, involved in helping him to become free about four years ago."

Susan blinked once hard, her time for surprise. "I didn't think that was possible, unless he was recently freed. They need a master's magic to live so I'd expect him to have died by now."

"Err, he works at Hogwarts, so I'd assume he's like any other elf there," he explained.

She nodded slowly. "I guess that would explain it. So we're going to Hogwarts?"

"Sort of. Hogsmeade for sure."

Susan looked amused at the answer. "Give me a moment to put this up then. Why don't you go tell my mum while I do."

Harry went inside and found Pat going over a journal making notes of some kind. "Uh, Pat? Susan and I are going to go run an errand. We should be back in a half hour or so."

The woman wrote down one more number before looking up at him. "Where are you going?"

"The edge of Hogsmeade. I don't expect to really see anyone," he explained.

"All right," she said as Susan walked into the room. "Please be careful."

"Of course," he told her before taking Susan's hand and walking to the front entry room before more could be said easily. When Susan looked at him, he Side-Along Apparated her to the Shrieking Shack.

"Why are we here?"

Harry looked around and was glad not to see anyone else. As he led her through the gate, he answered. "I'm hoping it will be easier to find him if we're closer to the school."

Inside, Susan scrunched up her nose prettily as she looked at the dusty place with claw marks in several places. "What happened here? Wait, didn't you tell me this was where you found out about your godfather at the end of your third year?"

"Yes, this is that place. It's also where Prof-, err, Remus stayed on the night of the full moons when he was at school." Harry explained absently as he thought very hard about who he wanted. "Dobby, come."

Nothing happened and Susan looked at him strangely. "Harry, house-elves only come for their master."

"We have a connection - I hope," he explained with a sigh. "Come on, we probably need to be closer." He took her to the door and down into the tunnel, lighting his wand as they descended.

"What in the name of Merlin?" she asked as she lit her wand as well.

"It leads to the school. It was how Remus used to get here."

She looked at him in the light of their wands as they walked through the tunnel. "You're kidding? This was how all of you went to the Shrieking Shack? I was hoping I had misunderstood your story about how easy it was to break into the school grounds. Auntie would have had a fit if she'd known."

Harry couldn't help his grin. "Probably for the best that that she didn't know about it, or about the other tunnel to Honeydukes."

With a nod, she said, "I'd already forgotten about that. Yeah, best she didn't know how unsafe the school was."

When they reached the end, Susan looked out. "We really are coming out of the Whomping Willow … amazing."

"It is, isn't it," he answered before he tried again. "Dobby, come."

A few seconds later, an elf with a Hogwarts towel for a tunic and with a knitted hat popped into the entrance of the tunnel. "The Great Harry Potter calls for Dobby!"

"It's good to see you again, Dobby. Hey, I don't think anyone will see us here, but maybe we could step back a little?" he asked as he took a few steps away from the entrance and the other two followed.

"All others are in the castle," Dobby informed him. "Even the big Keeper is not here."

"Right," Harry acknowledged, understanding that meant Hagrid was away. Kneeling down to put himself more or less at eye level with the elf, he said, "Dobby, I'm looking for a house-elf and I wanted to know if you're available and if you'd like to join my family."

The little guy's eyes somehow grew larger. "Dobby would be honored to be Harry Potter's elf!" he squeaked excitedly.

"Splendid," Harry said with a grin. "What do you need for pay?"

The elf shook his head vigorously. "Dobby won't take pay; Dobby wants to be a proper house-elf again."

"All right, if that's what you want," Harry said, hoping Hermione would understand. "Can I give you time off sometimes, you know, to do what you want?"

Dobby cocked his head and looked to be thinking very hard. "Master Harry Potter is great and kind. Dobby would like one day a month off if he may."

"Are you sure that's enough?" Harry asked.

"That is more than enough; you are very good to Dobby to allow that."

"Very well, how do we do this?" Harry asked.

Dobby put his hand out and touched Harry's arm. A few seconds later, Harry felt magic pass through the connection. "It's done," the elf said. "What does master need?"

"Well, I don't need a lot right now, so you can continue to work at Hogwarts. I think I'll need help soon though; I plan to rebuild my family estate house," Harry told him.

Dobby looked down and wrung his hands lightly. "Dobby has never built a house and can't help master."

"It's all right, Dobby," Harry said gently and patted him on the shoulder. "I thought maybe you could watch the workers to make sure there were no problems and maybe clean up there a bit until it's done. I may have a few other things to do as well."

"Dobby can do that." The elf looked down again. "Can Dobby ask a question?"

"Of course, Dobby, any time," Harry told him. "What's up?"

"Winky is not doing well, not well at all. Dobby wonders if Master Harry Potter can find a family for Winky too." The elf seemed to be begging.

Harry looked up at his girlfriend. "Do you think your parents would take her?"

"Probably, but we'd need to ask them," she replied.

"Of course." Harry turned back to Dobby, who was looking hopeful. "I'll ask them tonight. If it works out, I'll call you, all right?"

"Master proves how wonderful and great he is again!" Dobby squeaked.

"Well, let's wait to see if they say yes or not. Dobby, will you be able to hear me now when I'm further away?" Harry thought he would since Kreacher did, but he had to ask.

"Of course, Dobby be able to hear his master from anywhere in Britain," the elf boasted. "Master's magic is very strong."

"Very good," Harry said thoughtfully at that statement. "You can return to what you were doing and I'll call you when I have need."

Dobby gave a half-bow and then popped away.

"That was interesting," Susan told him as he rose.

"Very," he returned with a shake of his head in wonder. "Let's go back."

— — —

That evening over dinner, Harry brought up the topic. "Vincent, have the Bones ever had a house-elf?"

"Pat and I never have, but the family did; she stayed with Amelia. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've decided that I'll sell the Black Estate in a few years and the elf that came with it because I don't trust him. On the other hand, it's been helpful to have a house-elf so I found a free one today and made him part of the family," Harry told them.

Pat looked surprised, but it was Vincent that said, "Really? I'm surprised he was still alive. Most can't handle freedom for very long."

"Yes, well, I think he's all right because he considered himself to belong to Hogwarts," Harry explained. "However, to your point, he said he had a friend, I suppose, that was also free and she wasn't doing very well. He asked if I knew of a family that would take her and I thought of you."

Vince and Pat looked at each other. This time it was Pat who responded first. "If we really are going to move into Bones Estate, it would be helpful to have an elf."

"I suppose it would," Vince agreed. "How much would she cost?"

"Since she free, I would assume nothing. Dobby just bonded to me on his own," Harry said.

"Hmm, that does make sense." Vincent thought for a moment more. "Can you call her here so we can talk to her?"

"Dobby, come," Harry called and Dobby popped in instantly, this time with a towel tunic that had the Potter crest on it rather than the Hogwarts one. "Dobby," he said instantly to try to prevent the "greats" and other words, "can you bring Winky here? Vincent and Pat would like to meet her and talk to her about possibly joining them."

The elf nodded vigorously. "Harry Potter is as great and wonderful as always. Dobby will bring Winky in a few minutes." He popped away leaving a slightly embarrassed master.

"He seems very excitable," Vincent said with a smile. "Will the other one be like that too?"

"Err, probably not. Winky used to belong to the Crouches before they were both killed. She seemed more reserved than Dobby when I've seen her," Harry told them.

"I think he's fun," Susan said with a smirk at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, just wait until he's talking about the great and wonderful Susan," he volleyed sarcastically.

"It's got a nice ring to it," she teased him.

He rolled his eyes to their laughter as Dobby popped back in with Winky, one hand on her arm.

Winky looked very run-down and tired, despite her glaring at her friend; she also swayed slightly. "See, they want to talk to you," Dobby insisted, causing her to look up and see them at the same time, which caused her to gasp slightly.

"I'm Vincent Bones. It's Winky, right?" Vincent asked gently.

"Yes, Mr Bones," she squeaked.

"Winky, we'd like to have an elf join us, but I need to ask you a few questions first. Is that all right with you?" Vincent seemed to be patience personified and very gentle, which caused Harry to wonder if this was what he was like when he worked at St Mongo's.

The elf nodded vigorously, making Harry wonder if all elves were like that.

"I need you to be completely honest with me," Vincent told her. "Is there anything preventing you from bonding with a new family?"

"No, Mr Bones," she said quickly.

"You're willing to bond to our family, serve us, and keep our secrets?"

"Yes, Mr Bones."

"Winky, how long have you been free?"

The elf cringed and almost wailed, "Almost three years," before looking down in shame.

Vince looked very surprised and glanced at Pat, who nodded her consent. "I'm impressed you're that strong," he told her gently. "If you're willing to join us, you may bond with us."

The elf looked up suddenly with a manic look. "Wink is wanting it very badly." She slowly approached him and gingerly held out a trembling hand.

Vincent held out his and grasped her hand. "Winky, I accept you into the Bones family to live with us and to serve us if you're willing."

A flash of light came from their clasped hands. "Winky be part of the Bones family to serve and will keep all of their secrets." As if by magic, which is probably was Harry considered, she stood straighter suddenly and started to lose some of her paleness as he watched.

"Very good," Vincent told her with an easy smile. "You can go get whatever you have and bring it here. I'll go make a small room for you in the garage to last for a few days. I want you to rest and regain your strength before you do very much. I'll be opening up Bones Estate on Saturday and afterward you can stay and start to work there."

Winky bowed low. "Master is a good master." Straightening, she popped away.

"Thank you, Harry," Vincent told him as he stood, "you've removed one of my concerns about our moving back to the Estate house. If all of you will excuse me, I need to go create a small bedroom."

Susan reached over and gave her boyfriend a hug. "Thank you for thinking of our family," she whispered.

* * *

Neville and Hannah came through the Floo and brushed themselves off. "Hi Mrs B," Hannah said to the woman that let them through. Neville echoed her.

"Good morning, you two. We really want to thank you for helping out," she said as she guided them to the foyer where Harry was waiting and greeted them also.

Pat held out a stick. "If everyone will touch this we'll go." When they did, she activated the Portkey.

Landing in a small copse of trees, Harry looked around and saw the back side of a large house. Vince, Phillip, and Susan were not far away and waving their wands towards the house. Lisa, Phillip's wife, was a few steps behind them with her wand out and looking around vigilantly, obviously providing cover or at least warning if someone unexpected appeared.

Harry walked over and started to feel a tingle in the air when he was a couple of steps behind Susan. He stopped just as a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"No closer, Harry," Pat whispered so as not to disturb the other three bringing down the protective ward on the house.

He took a few steps back to stand beside her and Lisa but still talked quietly. "I thought only one person was required to bring down the 'death' protective ward?"

"That's true, but it also goes faster with more people. This is also their chance to learn how to do this, but speed is the most important reason. As Vince told you, this is the only ward on the house, so when it comes down, there's nothing protecting us until we bring new ones back up." Pat continued to look around furtively for anyone who might be approaching.

Suddenly, the wards which had been invisible flared a very light blue before they disappeared again.

"Very good work, Phillip, Susan; let's go." Vincent led them to the house at a brisk walk.

Harry moved forward, grabbing Susan's hand as Lisa grabbed Phillip's. "Are you all right? Tired?" he asked his girlfriend.

"No, not really tired," Susan answered, "just a little stressed because we had to get that right the first time." She looked at him as they hurried through the back garden. "Are you ready for your parts?"

"Yeah, the ritual to start it up shouldn't be too bad," Harry replied. "I'm more concerned about working on the ward stone. Vince and I will have to hurry and we can't make mistakes with that either."

Harry was a little surprised at the lack of damage to the house they were about to enter. From what little he'd heard, he'd expected the house to be a wreck, but he didn't see a single broken window and the back door looked fine too.

Vincent put a hand on the door before tapping it with his wand, then he reached down and opened it. When they were inside, Harry thought he understood as he looked at the broken and partially burnt furniture. There probably had been more damage, but it had been repaired to make the house weather-tight. "Winky!"

The elf popped in. "Master called?"

"Winky, until we bring the new wards back up, I want you to patrol the grounds," Vincent ordered firmly but not unkindly. "Don't be seen and if you see an intruder coming, you are to come to me and tell me immediately."

"Yes, Master." The elf popped back out.

Vincent closed the door and threw a spell at it. "Neville and Hannah, I want you to go up the main stairs. They will take you to what's known as the cupola. That will allow you to view most of the grounds and beyond." He looked at the youngest two. "You said you had a mirror?"

Harry pulled his out and said, "Susan Bones."

Susan pulled hers out and could see Harry in it and nodded, so Harry handed his mirror to Neville.

Neville took the mirror and said, "We'll cover you," before turning for the stairs that were visible through the doorway, with Hannah following.

Vincent led the rest to a different room and opened a door with stairs leading down. A flight of stairs and another locked door later, they were standing around a large stone that was glowing in only one spot. Vincent cast a spell at that spot and it ceased to glow. Another spell later and the stone that was the size of an overly large steamer trunk cracked open as the non-permanent fusing released its hold. "Boys!" the man called. The three grabbed an edge and with effort pulled one half until the two halves were at an "ell" to one another.

Harry looked inside and could see the runes going up through the middle and twisting around before coming up over the top where they ended at the short set that was part of the only one that had been glowing when they entered. The face of the other half had a few burnt looking spots on it.

He knew from his limited study at school and by talking to Vincent that this ward stone was not like the small stuff he worked on for fun. The small wards just had their runes on the outside as they didn't stress anything too much. But wards for a house like this was another story. While they started like the others, going up a side and ending on top, they almost always had another stone the same size fused to the one with the runes, with the runes sandwiched in the middle. This was done for two very practical reasons. First, it protected the runes a little more should someone find the normally very protected ward stone; second, it gave the runes a larger sink to deal with any heat they might generate if under attack.

"Phillip, I want you to clean the plain side, remove all the burnt spots while keeping it flat," Vince told his oldest and received a brisk nod and the young man got to work.

Harry knelt down beside Vincent as they looked at the runes on the other half. "I see your power sequence there at the base, but it's really crowded. I'm not sure how you're going to put the new ones in, there's just not enough space."

Vincent let an exasperated sigh out. "I've never really seen them before so I didn't know we'd have this problem. They've been added to over time and my diagram isn't up-to-date. We don't have the space I was counting on having," he said with disappointment. "I really do want your new power sequence in here because if the old ones were taken down once, they can be taken down again by the same person more easily. Let's see…" The head of house also cleaned and recarved a few of the runes that had been damaged from the attack.

The two continued to look as Phillip finished up and stepped back to give the other two more room to work. Runes were not something Phillip understood well, so he stayed back so as not to get in their way.

"I'd almost suggest over here on the left side," Harry pointed, "but I'm afraid that wouldn't be enough rock to service them well."

"Sadly, I agree." Vincent snorted angrily now, clearly upset at the unexpected situation. "Bloody hell, I just don't see a way to do it without getting a new ward stone and that's not going to happen right now. I guess we'll just have to go with the old way for now."

"Wait a moment," Harry stopped him. "The floor is stone."

"Yes," Vincent agreed, "it has to be."

Harry grinned. "Then we use that to our advantage. It's not as good as the crystal ward stone, but crystal is really only used for control, or so Professor Babbling said. For power, the heavier granite floor will work just fine."

"I don't see how we can put your new wards on the floor," Vincent said slowly, his expression showing he was trying to figure out where Harry was going with his idea.

"We don't," Harry told him. "We put the new wards on a granite block, put a hole that size in the floor and drop the power block in. Then we move the ward stone back on top of that lining it all up very carefully and fuse it all…"

Vincent jumped in now that he understood, "And we remove the old power sequence and put connecting runes in their place and problem solved. Harry, you really are a genius with this. You have my blessing to take Susan."

"Dad!" Susan squealed in outrage, proving she had been listening even if she hadn't understood much of "the technical talk". Pat and Lisa were wide-eyed in shock, while Phillip just stared.

Harry grinned again and laughed. "Sold!"

"Harry!" Susan shouted and smacked him hard on the shoulder.

Harry grunted before he and Vincent started laughing.

"It's not funny!" Susan glared at them.

"It most certainly is not!" Pat added now that she could speak again after her surprise.

"It was also a joke and Harry knew that," Vince said, defending himself before he reached into a pocket. "Good thing I brought this," he said as he pulled out the shrunken block with Harry's test runes, enlarging it to normal size as he sat it down.

Harry looked up at his glaring girlfriend who had her hands on her hips and looked to be contemplating what spell she was going to use on him. "I'm sorry, Susan. I knew it was joke when he said it, but I went along with it not really thinking about how you'd view it." It was only a small stretch of the truth. He and Vincent had both known the idea wouldn't be thought of very highly, but neither of the men had expect the reaction to be that extreme.

She pursed her lips before drawing them tight in a frown. "We _**will**_ be talking about his later."

"Yes, dear," he said softly as Vincent was measuring the spot on the floor.

"Are you sure that's going to be big enough?" Harry asked the man. "That was only for you to test here." He smoothed out the old power sequence on the ward stone and then carved in simple connector runes to save Vincent time.

Vincent nodded. "Fortunately, I made it the size I expected to have to use in order to make the test more realistic. I'm glad I did."

A moment later, there was a square hole in the floor into which the new power sequence block was dropped and then fused into the hole for better contact. Vincent looked at Harry's work and nodded with approval. The three men moved the half of the ward stone that had the runes into place and that was fused to the new power block. Finally, the blank half was moved back into position and fused into place.

Vincent looked at his youngest as she put the mirror in the pocket of her jeans. "What the word from up top?"

"Still all clear," Susan told him, mostly over her outrage from before.

"Good, places everyone, we're almost done with this part. After we done here, we'll just need to fix a few ward anchors upstairs," Vincent reminded them.

They all took their places, each couple a third of the way around the stone. In each case, a Bones leaned over and placed their hands on the dark crystal rock and their "other" leaned over and put their hands on top of their partner's.

Harry almost said how much he enjoyed this position as he spooned behind Susan tightly, but held his tongue considering Susan was already slightly pissed off at him right now, not to mention the fact that they were right in front of her parents.

As they started the short ritual chant that would push some of their power into the ward stone to essentially jump-start it, Harry realized that his hands were completely on top of Susan's hands while Lisa's and Pat's were on top but had their fingertips down and touching the rock. So he quickly moved his fingers so he was touching the rock too and chanted with the others to do what was essentially wandless magic even if it wasn't called that.

Finishing the short chant, Harry felt the stone start to pull power from him and Susan, just as Vincent said would happen. However, as they tried to stand up just like the other two couples were doing, he found his fingers were stuck to stone.

Susan panicked as she realized it too and cried out, "Help! It has us!"

Harry tried to do his one wandless spell, but his Finite Incantatem was absorbed greedily by the stone and did nothing to free them. He was still just as stuck to the rock and he couldn't think of a single way for him to use air to help.

Vincent jumped into motion, pushing Pat backwards without thought and causing her arms to swing wildly as she tried to keep her balance. His wand came out as he ran around the large stone casting silently from one large step away; the spell hit the stone and their hands.

Susan watched in shock as her father ran at them without slowing down. She saw his wand dropping from his hand as his arm went around her waist and his shoulder caught Harry. They were bowled over as well as any professional rugby player could have done. The only thing that saved her from a large bruise was landing on Harry, who very audibly let her know that she'd knocked the breath out of him as they landed. As she looked at the four hands in front her, she screamed.

Hitting the stone floor and rolling - although not nearly as well as he would have hoped - Vince rose to one knee as his daughter screamed, "Harry!" as if he was being murdered right in front of her eyes. Looking at the ward stone, he saw exactly what he'd expected to see, ten small patches of bloody skin. Picking up his wand, he turned to the youngest couple to deal with the next crisis, which was very minor compared to the one he'd just solved, despite what his daughter might think at the moment as blood dripped on her.

"Shush, honey, Harry will be fine shortly," Vincent said in a forced calm, his healer voice.

"But dad!"

"Shush, it looks far worse than it is," the father told his daughter as he cast numbing charms on their hands, which led to her next discovery.

"Dad! We're stuck together!" Susan cried.

"I know, honey. It's temporary, just for a few minutes. Try to relax. I've numbed both of your hands so you can't feel anything. It looks bloody but it won't bleed very fast, trust me." Vincent did a fast bandaging spell around both of their hands. "There, that will hold you until I can really work on it."

"What do you mean, until you can work on it?!" Susan said, her panic not abating.

"Pat, Lisa, do anything you need to make them comfortable." Vincent looked at his son. "We'll have to do this without Harry. Hurry upstairs and check all of the ward anchors in the house. I'll check the ones outside. Susan, where is the mirror?" Phillip hurried up the stairs.

With her mother finally reaching her and caressing her and Harry's head, Susan was starting to calm a little. "It's in my pocket and, ouch! I have a sharp pain in my bum!"

Vincent blew out a sharp breath in frustration. "The mirror is probably broken then, so don't lean on that. This is so not going like I'd planned. Wait! I have another way. Winky!"

The elf popped in. "Master?"

"Winky, please go up to the cupula and tell Neville and Hannah that we've had a small accident and the mirror is broken. Also tell them that I'm about to go outside so they shouldn't cast anything at me. And let them know we're almost done. Go," he commanded and Winky popped away.

Vincent looked at his wife. "Do whatever you must, but do not let Harry touch that ward stone in _**any**_ way now that it's powered up." He then dashed up the stairs as well.

Pat shook her head. "I'm sure we'll all laugh about this one day, but _that's definitely_ not today."

Harry continued to lay there, feeling half dazed from hitting his head on the stone floor. Susan was laying mostly on top of him, turned slightly, their bandaged hands lying gently on her stomach. He could feel the broken mirror poking him too, but probably not as bad as it was her from what she'd said. That brought a smile to his face.

"What's so funny, Harry?" Lisa asked curiously.

He looked at her as she appeared mostly upside down, which he found amusing too for some reason. "Do you think Susan would let me pull the glass out?"

His girlfriend sputtered in indignation while the other two looked at Harry and then burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Susan protested crossly.

Pat stood and pulled out her wand. "I don't know, I can sort of see it both ways. Lisa, I'm going to levitate them upright; you steady them."

Harry felt them move and his world turned rather violently. "I don't feel so good."

Susan tried to move, but she didn't go far as Harry was only standing because Lisa grabbed him and held him up, barely. With his arms around her and their hands stuck together, she wasn't going anywhere. "Harry, don't you dare throw up on me!"

"Everyone stand still," Pat commanded as she moved to their side and checked Susan's back pocket. She carefully cut off her daughter's back pocket on her jeans and then slowly pulled the pieces of the mirror out.

"That feels better, whatever you did," Susan told her.

"That was the frame to the mirror that was poking you. No glass in you that I can see." Pat cleaned the rest of it up. "We'll have to fix the jeans later." She stood and looked at Harry very carefully. "Harry, do you feel any better now? Can you walk or should I levitate you up?"

"I don't want to walk," came the reply as he rested his head on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Right, I'll levitate them upright and you steady them, Lisa. We go slow and smooth." Pat made them rise only a couple of inches and they started for the stairs. The trip took nearly five minutes before they were in the living room and were gently placed on a sofa that wasn't too damaged.

Just as they were settled, Vincent came running past them and down to the basement with Phillip hurrying after.

"I assume they're done?" Lisa asked.

"I would imagine they are and are checking the ward stone for something," Pat answered.

A minute later, the two men came up and both were looking pleased.

"Well?" Pat asked.

"It's all splendid, better than I expected due to the accident. The wards are already a third of their new capacity which is almost their old full strength." Vincent beamed, "I'd estimate they'll be at full strength in about a month and then I doubt anyone will be able to take them down quickly. Harry's change is really amazing."

He turned to the pair on the couch, Harry looking like he was dozing lightly and Susan was looking at him with concern. Turning his wand on them, he cast several diagnostic spells. "Be patient," he told his daughter. "I'll have you apart momentarily and then I can work on Harry."

Vanishing the bandages, he did a couple of spells before Susan's hands came off of Harry's. She opened her mouth in panic again at the blood on her hands.

"Shush," her father told her. "It's not yours, you're fine. I know you can't feel your hands now, but there's nothing wrong with them. That's Harry's blood from the accident and I'll have that fixed soon."

"Promise?!" she said, barely controlling herself.

"I promise," he told her gently. "Now, stand up and go with everyone else back to the house. I'll bring Harry. Winky is the only one who'll stay here. Come on, up you go."

Susan stood and saw that Hannah and Neville had come down to join them. Hannah rushed over and engulfed her in a hug, which Susan was grateful for.

"What happened?" Neville asked as Vincent gestured him over to help stand Harry up, one of the unconscious boy's arms over each of their shoulders.

"Somehow, Harry's fingers touched the ward stone as it powered up," Vincent started to explain. "That caused the ward stone to pull more and more power from him, so he's near magical exhaustion."

"Why?" Susan asked as they all walked slowly to the Apparation area inside the front door.

"It's a defense mechanism, honey. If someone who's not a Bones or attached to our family through marriage touches it, it sticks them to the stone and then drains their magic." The rest were shocked, but he continued on. "I hit you two with a spell to soften your skin and then forced you away. I know that sounds cruel, but it was the much smaller problem. If I hadn't pulled you away, it would have pulled all the magic from Harry and killed him in short order."

Susan turned and hugged her mother tightly, burying her face.

"The two of you stuck together because I'd softened the skin of each of you; I was unable to make it hit only him. Harry will have to have the skin on one side of his hands regrown, but that's a small price to pay for being alive. In a few days, he'll be as good as new," Vincent said as they all stopped at the front door.

"Mr Longbottom, Miss Abbot, I thank you very sincerely for your help. Ordinarily, we'd have had extended family do that, but we'll a little short on them at the moment," Vincent said with a tight smile. "Please expect a dinner invitation soon. If you'll excuse us, I need to get Harry home to work on his hands and on his concussion." He and Harry left with a crack.

"A concussion too?!" Susan left with a crack. The remaining five looked at each other and chuckled.

"It's been a very interesting morning," Pat said as she shook her head. "Would Friday, six days from now, work for dinner?"

"Yes." "Sure." The two visitors said.

Neville also handed a normal looking mirror to Pat. "You can give this to him later." He turned to his girlfriend. "Would you like to come to my house?"

"I'd love to." She looked at their hostess. "I'm glad it all worked out and I'm sure Mr B will have Harry all patched up in trice." With that, the two left.

Phillip and Lisa gave Pat a hug and left, then Pat left for her normal home as well.

There, she found Susan hurrying out of the bathroom and into Harry's room looking cleaner and in shorts and a T-shirt now. Pat joined the others and saw her husband working on Harry's hands; several empty potion phials were already on the table by the bed.

While Susan removed Harry's shoes and socks, Pat asked her husband, "How is he?"

"I've given him a potion for his concussion as well as a strengthening potion to help him recover faster. I also gave him a dreamless sleep potion to make sure he gets some extra rest. I should be done with his hands in about twenty minutes." Vincent stopped for a moment. "Susan, honey, do you know why Harry has a scar on the back of his hand that says 'I must not tell lies'?"

Pat was surprised at how quickly Susan became angry.

"In our fifth year, the vile and despicable Delores Umbridge made him use a Blood Quill for so long _that_ happened," Susan spat. "I didn't find out about it until this last year though. I can promise you that if I'd known as it happened, I'd have brought the wrath of Auntie down on Umbridge."

Pat was amused by how protected her daughter was over the young man now.

Vincent continued working on Harry for a long moment before he finally said, "I'll ask him tomorrow if he'd like me to get rid it. I think I can, but if not, I can certainly remove the words so it's just plain scarring."

"Thanks, dad," Susan said and gave him a side hug.

When Vincent finished his work, he transfigured Harry's remaining clothes into pajamas. "As long as the door stays open, you can stay here," he told her. "He might wake up around midnight, but I'd really expect him to sleep until tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, dad," Susan told him again before laying gently on the bed and draping an arm protectively over Harry.

Vincent picked up his medical things and left the room.

Pat gave her daughter a stern look. "When we go to bed, you have to go to your own bed and stay there. Understand?"

"Yes, mum," Susan answered. "And thanks."

Pat leaned over and gave each of them a kiss on forehead before leaving to join her husband.

She found said husband pouring himself a large drink, one from the special bottle Harry had given him for a Christmas gift. He held up the bottle and she said, "Just a small one." Drinks in hand, they sat on the couch and talked quietly.

"I'm so thankful that worked out. I don't know what I would have done if Harry had died today," Vince said before he swallowed half of his drink.

"How close was it?" Pat wasn't sure she really wanted to hear, but she felt like she had to know.

"Another ten seconds or so, maybe less. Most wizards wouldn't have woken up any time soon, much less stayed mostly conscious as Harry did. He did as well as he did only because he's very above average in magic," he explained.

"How above average?"

"At the top of the scale, definitely in the top one percent of magical power."

Pat considered how lucky Susan really was to win his heart. All of that on top of the fact that he was a very nice young man. "I'm glad we didn't have a disaster too."

"We can move in about a month," he told her. "Will you be ready?"

"With a house-elf? It'll be very easy, but I'm not sure I want to go. I do like it here," she told him.

"I do as well, but it will be safer now that the new wards are up. I know it'll be a lot of work to make it into a real home, but as you said, you have extra help beyond the kids even." Vince started taking small sips to finish his drink.

"You'll redo your garden there?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course, and you can help me design it," he promised and drew her in close with an arm around her shoulders, purposefully thinking about anything other than the disaster that almost was.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	15. Last Stands

**Chapter 15 - Last Stands**

Harry blinked awake with the early morning sun just starting to come through his window. The first thing that caught his attention was the movement of Vince's wand as the man wove a diagnostic spell over him.

"Good morning, Harry, how are you feeling?" the man said quietly.

Harry blinked a few times to give himself time to fully wake up. "Mostly good. My hands throb a bit though."

"That's to be expected as the salve regrows the skin there. I can help that though." A wave of his wand and Vince asked, "How's that?"

"I can't feel a thing now."

"Very good. We'll put numbing charms on you three times a day just before we put the salve on." Another wave of his wand and the bandages disappeared.

Harry looked and saw that the ends of all of his fingers and thumbs were covered with dark red skin.

"The skin is very thin so please be very careful. As long as you aren't a prat about it, I'm sure Susan will be your hands for what you need, and I'd like you to use them as little as possible until tomorrow." Vince smiled ever so slightly. "In fact, other than going to the bathroom, please let her or Pat do everything for you."

"Err, OK," Harry agreed as he tried to not think about that need right now.

"I'll help you to the bathroom and to change clothes in a moment, but I have a question first." Vince pointed at his right hand. "Susan explained how you received the scar on the back of your hand. Would you like me to remove it? I believe I can, although it will be like your fingertips, so you'll have to be very careful with it for a few days."

Harry turned his hand over and looked at it for a long moment. In some ways, it motivated him, but in others, it still made him a bit angry. Still, he didn't think he could really do anything to Umbridge about it now. Deciding, he said, "Yes, please."

"It's a good thing I've already numbed your hand." As Vince worked on his hand with his wand, he glanced at Harry for a moment. "Harry, I feel I must apologize to you for not stressing the pre-cautions more…"

"It's not your fault," Harry interrupted him, "you told me not to touch the ward stone when it was powered up but I didn't remember."

" _I_ ," Vince stopped him with a pointed yet caring look, "was in charge and responsible. It worked out without permanent injuries, but my apologies for you having to suffer like this."

Harry considered the words for a moment and appreciated the caring intent behind them. With a small nod, he said quietly, "Thank you."

Vince nodded back and finished his work. The scarring words were gone and the back of his hand was bloody. The healer cleaned that up and then magicked some salve to the new wound as well as to his fingertips. "Just hold your hands up in the air without touching anything while I bandage them again."

That done, Vince helped him up and with magic removed Harry's clothes and helped him put clean ones on. "I hope you don't mind, but I'd prefer you wait until tomorrow for a shower. Bathroom time?" At Harry's nod, Vince opened doors and helped him across the hall.

Harry had barely settled back on his bed after relieving himself when Susan hurried into his room looking tired and a little stressed.

"He's fine," her father assured her as Harry held his hands in front of him so he wouldn't bang them on anything. "Same rules as yesterday," he told her, "and your mother will help you put the salve on his hands after lunch. I'll put the third application on after I get home from work."

"All right," she told him.

"And Susan, no stressing him please." Vince leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you two after work."

With her father gone, she looked at him critically. "Are you really all right?"

"As well as I can be," he answered.

"Let's go get something to eat." She steadied him as he rose and then led them into the kitchen.

Harry followed her, really looking her over. Her t-shirt and shorts were rumpled, but he had to admire what he saw. He thought she had a very nice bum. Her legs were a little thin, but not overly so. Her long hair looked a little more reddish than blonde this morning. He thought she was turning into a very lovely young woman.

Taking a seat at the breakfast table, he watched her cook a simple breakfast. He felt a little embarrassed for her to feed him, but she seemed to not mind and didn't give him a hard time about it, for which he was very grateful. She did give him a hard look about one thing though.

"Harry, I'm very relieved that nothing permanent happened. Dad said you were about ten seconds away from the ward stone sucking out enough magic to kill you."

"I'm very glad too and I'm also very sorry to have worried you with all of this," he told her.

She gave him some more bacon. "Eat this and just listen, all right?" At his nod, she gave him some eggs too as she continued. "Harry, accidents happen and I'm not bothered by it now that we know you'll be fine. I don't mind taking care of you either; it's even a little bit fun. However, I do have one important thing to say about yesterday."

He wondered what the problem was as he took another bite from the fork she put to his mouth.

"Now that I've thought about it," she said very seriously, "I can understand the joke you and my father made about selling me, but please don't ever do that again. You probably can't fully understand it from my point of view, but there are very real stories about fathers in the most conservative families doing that very thing literally. For example, I wouldn't be surprised if the Parkinsons did that to Pansy.

"While I know my parents would never truly do that, it's still something I fear, that someone would try to force something like that on me. Looking at it while talking with you like this, I know that it's an irrational fear that will never happen. Like I said, I know my parents wouldn't really do it and I know I can trust you, but it's still something that bothers me. For some people, their fear is heights or monsters in the closet; this is mine. Do you understand?" she asked.

"I do, and I'm sorry. If I'd known I wouldn't have done it and I'll do my best to never do that again, to you or our children," he told her honestly.

Susan looked at him for a moment before her serious expression softened. "Our children. I like the sound of that … and thank you, Harry. I'm afraid that you're correct that my fear would extend to cover them. However, I'll also promise that I'll work on it; I don't like this fear."

"I'll do my best to help." He leaned forward and hoped she understood since he couldn't grab her head. Fortunately, she did and leaned forward also, allowing them to kiss gently.

A moment later, a throat cleared noisily as footsteps entered the room bringing a smiling mother. "I'm not sure who's taking advantage of whom, but perhaps you should each allow the other to breathe?"

The young couple disengaged, but neither were overly embarrassed nor did they snap apart.

"Good morning, mother." "Good morning, Pat."

"I see you've already had breakfast." Pat gave her daughter a once over. "I believe that's what you wore to bed, so go get changed. I'll watch him until you can return."

Susan gave him a smile and left with a bounce, which Harry appreciated.

"How are you feeling?" asked Pat.

"Well," he answered. "I can't feel my hands, which probably helps."

"I'm just glad you'll be all right," she told him as she cooked breakfast for herself.

When Susan returned a few minutes later, she looked much more normal in a different t-shirt and back in jeans. She had barely sat down next to Harry when an owl landed on the window sill. Pat opened the window and took the letter; the owl few away immediately. Looking at it, she placed it on the table in front of Harry.

"Shall I?" Susan asked.

"Please."

Opening it, Susan's eyes went wide. "You and one friend," she looked at Harry hopefully, "are invited to the wedding of Fleur Delacour and William Weasley at her family home in France on the 16th of August. I assume this is because you knew her from the Triwizard Tournament?"

Harry wanted to tease her by acting like he wasn't sure who to take, but after his gaff yesterday, decided to forego the joke. "I would assume so," he agreed. "Would you like to go with me?"

Susan squealed and threw her arms around his neck.

Harry carefully put his arms around her back, careful not to let his hands touch anything. He saw Pat smirking at them over his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Would you two like to stay in France for a few more days? We could make it a summer holiday, maybe even for the entire week," Pat suggested.

Susan let go of her boyfriend and turned to look at her mother, her enthusiasm not diminishing. "Could we?"

"I'll ask your father," Pat said.

— — —

That evening, Pat kept her promise. "Vince, Harry received an invitation to a wedding in France from a friend and he'd like to take Susan. Could you take some time off of work so we could stay for more than the weekend?"

Vince stopped his meal and looked at them all for a moment, seeing hopeful faces all around. "When?"

"The wedding is on Saturday, August 16th," Susan replied before giving Harry another bite.

Vince was amused that Susan used the same fork for both of them, although Susan and Harry each had their own plates. "That's far enough in the future it's possible. I'll see what I can arrange tomorrow."

When they finished dinner, Vince looked at the rest of them. "Let's all go over to the other house. I promised Harry some time there and I know Pat would like to look at the house to plan our move." He looked at Susan. "Why don't you help your mother while Harry and I walk around?"

"I suppose," she said, not sounding entirely happy.

Vince chuckled softly. "You've seen the house many times before, honey. However, if you'd like to spend a few minutes with us at the beginning, I'll tell you a story, one you may want to pass to your own children one day."

Susan looked reasonably mollified. "All right."

Pat and Susan started the cleanup while Vince looked at Harry's hands and applied the third treatment for the day.

When all were ready, they each Apparated over to the back garden, just outside the back door.

Vince stood there for a moment and looked around; the others watched him for a moment in confusion. "Obviously, I don't have all the details, but this is what I believe happened given the facts I know…"

With a deep breath and a sober look, he said, "It was darker than this, a couple of hours after sunset. No one knows how long the work had been going on, but it's believed it started over there. Those trees will be coming down soon." He pointed to the copse of trees where they had all Portkeyed to yesterday before the work on the wards started."

Susan gasped as she realized what story her father was telling. She grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him against her for comfort.

"A curse breaker used the cover of the trees and shrubs to assault the wards in secrecy. I'm still not sure how he was able to do that, a project for me very soon, but he managed to breach the wards and let in a group of Death Eaters onto the property. They probably ran for the back door and fired Blasting curses on the run."

Harry was transfixed as he realized he was hearing of the last stand of Amelia Bones.

"My sister was a proud woman, especially in light of her making the Directorship of the MLE, a post generally held by men. Her pride hastened her downfall, I'm sad to say, as she only had one Auror with her at the time, instead of the two she was allowed. Although, I'm sure it can be argued that even four might not have been enough to discourage the attackers." Vince opened the back door so they all could walk in.

"With the back doors broken open by multiple curses, the Death Eaters rushed in, leaving the defenders little time to prepare a defense. It's believed there were at least six of them based on observations and probably eight, but that's a guess. It is also a guess as to whether You-Know-Who was here at the beginning or if he was called after the assault started, but it's known he was here. It's my opinion he was here at the beginning and he's why the wards were taken down so quickly."

Vince looked around the living room they were standing in. "The majority of the fight happened here, hence all the damage, although much of it has already been cleaned up and repaired."

Harry looked around and wondered what it had been like on that night based on the damage inside that had been seen yesterday and was now mostly gone thanks to Winky's efforts.

"Fortunately, both Auror Flannigan and Amelia were still awake and they put up quite a fight as blood was found that didn't match either of them. It is unknown if any of the Death Eaters were killed. Based on the position of the bodies when I arrived, which was not long after the initial squad of Aurors arrived, it seems Auror Flannigan was the first to go down. It's believed a Killing curse ended her life, but she had many other wounds.

"Amelia fell back to that doorway over there, using the wall to hide behind and then step out and fire when she could. She also took several curses before a Killing curse ended her life. Her house elf, Mopsy, managed to store all of the family valuables in the family secured storage room before she was also killed as she tried to help Amelia. My guess is the elf was telling her where the attackers were as well as when it was safe to move; she was probably killed when she was discovered helping Amelia.

"A message was sent as just as the fight started. The first squad of Aurors to arrive saw You-Know-Who leaving, his foul deed done. At least five Death Eaters helping an injured sixth were quick to follow him once they realized Hit Wizards and Aurors were arriving in superior numbers. The Aurors searched the house and found the three dead bodies. One of them knew me and sent me a message to come quickly.

"We managed to repair the back area enough it would keep the rain out. I also repaired a few of the ward anchors that had been destroyed by overload. One squad was kind enough to stay the extra ten minutes that it took me to bring up the death wards and seal the house. It's really a shame Amelia didn't have a ten minute warning before the attack as she could have brought the wards up herself and then waited the attack out until help could come."

Vince looked at Harry. "I'll borrow a Pensieve at work and look at my memory of the ward stone to get a detailed description and then perhaps we can go over it and see if we can see the problem with them and then fix it. If we can't, I'll have to hire a ward specialist."

"I'll be happy to help," Harry told him solemnly. "I will do what I can to help you stay safe."

"Thank you," Vince told him with a look of deep gratitude before looking at his daughter. "Never forget the bravery of your Aunt. She always tried to do what was right, a real beacon of justice, and for that she was murdered."

Susan gave her father a fierce hug before leaving with her mother to look at the house.

"Thank you for telling me," Harry told him gratefully.

Vince nodded and took a deep breath to get past the story of his sister. Looking at Harry, "I suppose we should start with the tour. I'll point out interesting things and attempt to tell you the why's. I had also hoped that we could start on your Wizarding lessons tonight, but I think I'll postpone that for another few nights."

"Whatever you think is best," Harry told him agreeably.

"Then let's look in the next room by the front door," Vince said as he walked that way. "One of the ward anchors is there and we can look at it…"

* * *

Friday morning, Harry was feeding himself and making faces at Susan as Pat walked into the eating area. "'Morning, Harry. How's the hands?"

"Not much change from yesterday. They feel normal except when I put a lot of weight on them. Vince said that should be gone by tomorrow or the next day. He's really good," Harry said appreciatively.

"Well, I'm just glad you'll make a full recovery," Pat told him.

A moment later, a small owl arrived, which told Harry who this was from. "Come here, Pig!" he ordered as he tried to grab the hyperactive owl, taking several tries before he nabbed him.

"Pig?" Susan asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's short for Pigwidgeon or something like that. Ginny named Ron's owl and it stuck. I'm sure she did it for a joke," Harry explained as he tore the letter open.

"I'm sure," Susan agreed a little sarcastically at the obviousness.

"Hey, we're both invited over to The Burrow Saturday August 2nd for a birthday party for me, Neville, and Ginny." Harry grinned at her. "Your name is on here this time."

"That's good, I'm sure Ginny made sure of that," she teased his friend.

Harry grinned too. "Quite possibly true. So, what do we do until after lunch?"

"I thought," Pat spoke up, "that we'd start preparing to move. There are some things we won't need for the next month or more, so there's no reason not to go ahead and prepare that now."

"Is the house ready?" Susan asked.

"Not completely, but I asked Winky to prepare the bedrooms we'll need and they're done, so we can send the winter wardrobe and so forth over." Pat directed them to follow her and they started. Harry also called Dobby and had him help take boxes over for Winky to put away. They finished almost half the house by lunch time, all things no one would need until after they moved in a month.

— — —

Not long after lunch, Neville and Hannah came over. They were sitting at the table with a cold drink and talking about the birthday party in a couple of weeks.

Harry looked at Hannah as she said, "I'm glad I was invited too. I think Ginny helped that along too." Movement over her shoulder attracted his attention.

Just he identified the moving shape as a man in a black cloak with a white mask, the wards around the house flared in a burst of blue light before they went clear again. He knew what that meant. "Death Eaters! Run to the living room and get behind something!" he shouted as he grabbed Susan's hand and pulled her after him. "Contact the Aurors," he commanded and Susan ran towards the fireplace. He pulled his wand out as he stopped next to the kitchen and shot multiple Unbreakable spells at the back door and windows.

Turning, he saw Pat standing there in shock. "Get down!" he shouted at her and grabbed her arm, pulling her below the level of the lower cabinets before he joined her. Deciding they needed more protection than the wood would give them, he transfigured the cabinets into stone.

He had barely finished that when he felt the Apparation wards around the house go down. Looking over, he saw the couch turn into stone too. "Fire back two seconds after their first volley and no stunning spells!" he told everyone as he considered what was about to happen and what he could do. He was really pissed off this was happening and he was going to show them attacking the Bones was a bad idea.

Peeking around the corner of the cabinets, he saw multiple green spells coming towards the back door and wall. He put up an air shield just behind the all the glass and hoped that could block most of it as he pulled his head back.

A noise so loud it almost deafened him washed over all the defenders, as did spells that splashed against the walls and caused a lot of damage; but his air shield had prevented them from being cut by flying glass. Harry didn't bother to shout for his side to return fire, but rose up to one knee and pointed his wand over the countertop and whispered angrily, "Reducto!" Four other spells joined his.

While waiting for the spells to reach their targets, Harry quickly took in where the attackers were and Apparated as their spells reached the attackers.

He landed in a crouch just behind the fountain that Vince was so proud of and saw an extra attacker he couldn't have seen from his position in the kitchen. He launched an air spear at him first, hitting the man right between his shoulder blades and causing him to crumple.

Turning slightly as the attackers let the next round of spells go into the house, Harry shove an air spear at each attacker from left to right, one after the other as fast as he could. Three of the six remaining went down before they were aware of what was happening. Number four went down as he turned his head to see what happened to his cohorts. The fifth turned bodily and was hit in the left side instead of the back, with the same end result as he also fell. The sixth managed to move out of the way only to run into two spells from the house that qualified him for the "headless hunt club".

Hearing a rustle off to his right, Harry say a man in a cloak with a camouflage pattern start to run away. Harry sent an axe head of air at him, trying to cut his legs off as he was probably the curse breaker and Harry wanted to know how he'd taken the wards down.

The man disappeared just as the air weapon hit him. "Crap! Missed!" Harry growled. Looking around, he didn't see any other attackers, so he stood and took a deep breath as he realize they had them all … until he realize he could really only see half of the house.

Harry Apparated to the front, landing in the same place he had when he'd caught Marcus Flint at Christmas. There right in front of him were three more Death Eaters. Because of all the Killing Curses he'd already seen, he hit the one in the middle with a Blasting curse in the back of the neck. The other two received one of twin air spears through their necks.

Looking around, he saw no one else. With his wand out but pointing down, Harry jogged around to each side of the house to make really sure there were no other surprises. Finding none, he walked to the back door and saw Hannah and Susan covering Neville as he checked on each of the attackers. All three wands turned to him momentarily when they noticed him, before the wands were lowered quickly.

"Where did you go, Harry?" Susan called out to him.

"To check the front. Glad I did, there were three more there waiting on us to come out the front. Are Aurors coming?" Harry asked as he joined them.

"Not yet, the Floo was down," Susan reported.

"Really? Dobby, come!" Harry called out.

"Master Harry called! Aii!" the little guy yelled and put his hands out in a defensive position when he saw the bodies on the ground.

"Dobby, relax, the attack is over. In fact, I need you to go and find Auror Nymphadora Tonks as fast as you can. Tell her we were attacked here and need Aurors. Also tell her to send someone to the Floo Office as our Floo was taken offline by an attacker. Go!" The elf popped away instantly.

Harry looked at the others as he tried to work out if there was anything else he needed to do. "Wait, where's Pat? Is she all right?"

"She only has a cut or two, but she's in the kitchen," Susan told him. "She told us to come out here and make sure the attackers were tied up. Back in a minute now that you're here," she said as she dashed back into the house.

Harry cast his Patronus and the stag ran off. "That won't be very fast given how far it has to go, but Vince should be here in about ten minutes I'd guess. Neville?" Harry asked as he pointed to those on the ground.

"Not really anything to tie up, mate. Good move coming out here and hitting them from the back; that really confused them by getting hit from a direction they thought was safe."

"I felt the Apparation wards go down," Harry told him as he continued to look around. The back of the house where the breakfast table and kitchen were located was heavily damaged. There were even a hole in the stone cabinets he'd transfigured, about where he'd been before he had Apparated.

Contrasted to that, it was almost amusing that Vince's garden and pond area were almost pristine, only marred by a few boards that had been thrown that way.

Several distant cracks sounded, which caused Harry to walk over to edge of the house and lean as he looked around the corner. There, he could see to the front and a small group of Aurors with their wands out and looking at the three bodies on the ground. "There's more back here!" he shouted.

Two Aurors looked up and started walking towards him, one with bright pink hair. "Wotcher Harry! I see the action is over; then again, it almost always is before we get called. This is Auror Trainee Drakes with me," Tonks motioned towards her partner who looked only a few years older than Harry. "Shit!" she stopped in her tracks as she rounded the corner and took in the scene in the back garden. Drakes stood there speechless.

"Sorry for the bother, Tonks, but we need you to take out the rubbish," Harry told her matter-of-factly, his attitude helped by his still simmering anger at being attacked like this.

"What the hell happened?"

"Near as I can tell, they had a curse breaker take the wards down and then they attacked. I got lucky and saw them just as they started coming out of their hiding. We exchanged a few volleys and we came out on top, fortunately." As Harry finished, another set of cracks sounded from the front again.

"You killed them all," Drakes said in horror.

Harry fixed him with a look of disbelief. "Yeah, well, that happens when the Killing curse is thrown at you, you tend to respond with equal force, although I'm not sure I could cast a Killing curse. Then again, there's so many lethal spells there's no need to learn that one."

Drakes looked at him in continued horror. "Oh, get over it," Tonks told him. "When people are fighting for their lives against Death Eaters, anything goes. Geez, they must be scrimping on the training in Auror School now. Go ahead and start processing them. And Drakes, be damn careful you don't trigger a Portkey and take yourself straight to the enemy!"

Tonks did a quick count. "So ten of them?"

"Actually, eleven. One got away, the curse breaker I think. I tried to get him with a curse but he left just as the spell got to him; Portkey I think since it didn't look like Apparation. It happened over there." He pointed. "Hmm," he looked at her, "so maybe the curse breaker wasn't from around here if he needed a Portkey?"

"If true, then he's from the continent. Damn, if these idiots aren't bad enough, mercenaries just makes it worse," she groused.

Footsteps caused them both to turn and they saw Kingsley Shacklebolt and four more Aurors. "Report, Tonks."

She gave him the story Harry had told her.

Shacklebolt nodded and looked at Harry. "Anyone hurt?"

"Susan said Pat received some cuts. I'd like to go check on her if you don't mind." Harry was a little bothered that Susan hadn't come back out.

"Does Vince know?" the senior Auror asked.

"I sent him a message. He should be here in the next few minutes," replied Harry.

"Thanks, Harry. Go check on Pat and Susan," Shacklebolt said before turning to Tonks.

Harry hurried inside and found Susan and Pat holding each other and leaning against the cabinets. There was a bandage around the top of her head and a little blood smeared on one cheek. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked as he knelt down. Then he noticed that both women looked like they had been crying a little.

"Better now," Pat answered softly. "A chip of stone hit me and cut me. Other than that, I'm scared, and angry, and, … happy you're all fine." She held out an arm and Harry moved over and let her add him to the hug. "I never expected this to happen to us," she sniffled.

A few minutes later, the front door was thrown open, slamming into the wall as footsteps ran in. Vince joined them, skidding to a stop next to his wife. "Are you all right?"

"Just a little cut, maybe a few bruises, but I'm otherwise fine," she told him.

"When Harry's message reached me about the attack…" Vince had to stop and swallow. He then looked at Harry clapped him on the shoulder. "Thank you for defending them and for telling me in your message there were no serious injuries."

"I'm glad I was here to help," Harry told him. "Also, it took all of us."

Susan snorted. "I think Harry got all but one of them, and he even helped us by distracting that one."

"A team effort and it's the end result that matters," Harry said, trying to downplay his part. "However, I'm still pissed off they tried this. We were having a lovely afternoon and we had guests."

Vince smiled ever so slightly. "As you said, it worked out in the end." Turning to his wife, he reached for the bandage. "Let me take a look at this."

Harry looked at Susan and they both stood at the same time, but Susan moved to him first and wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm glad you're safe," she whispered. "I'm also glad it was all over before I even realized you had left the house. I think it would have scared the crap out of me of I'd seen you Apparate outside."

"If I was going to do that, I had to do it at the beginning when they weren't expecting it. I'm wondering if they even knew the curse breaker took the Apparation wards down, but I guess we'll never know," he whispered back.

"Vince!" Shacklebolt called into the house.

The head of house kissed his wife on the forehead that now only had a short pink line on it before he stood and walked for the back door area and the Auror. Harry tagged along as Susan knelt back down next to her mother.

"Kingsley, I'd really rather we met at the pub instead of at times like this," Vince said tightly, attempting a joke but it fell flat.

"Me as well, old friend," the Auror said. "So you know, all ten had the Dark Mark and all ten wands had fired the Killing curse recently, even the three who were waiting at the front. I can't tell if it happened here or if it was fired in practice before they came, but with an attack like this it really doesn't matter."

Shacklebolt looked at Harry. "We also found some blood over to the side where you said you saw the last one, so your spell hit him. That was also just outside of the Anti-Portkey ward that was put up, so he probably used one. We can't tell how injured he is, but we've stationed someone at St Mungo's to watch for him.

"So given all of this, you and the others have nothing to worry about, Harry. It's ruled self-defense."

Harry nodded his thanks.

"Kingsley, any surprises with who did it?" Vince asked.

"A little," Shacklebolt replied before looking at Harry. "If you or your friends need to talk to someone about this, let me or Tonks know."

"Err, OK, but why?" Harry asked.

"Because from what I know, there will only be one Slytherin boy in your year at school next year." At Harry's shocked look, he added, "We found Nott Sr and Jr, Goyle Sr and Jr, and finally Crabbe Sr and Jr. The other four aren't from the known old families and we haven't identified them yet. Tonks told me your thought that the curse breaker might not be from Britain. It's possible the other four might not be either, but a couple of them look vaguely familiar so I'm guessing they are from distant relations.

"One other thing I was told just before you two came out. Because of your quick thinking and telling us, Harry, we found a Death Eater at the Ministry Floo Office that we didn't know about. He's the one who shut your Floo connection down. He's been captured and will be going to Azkaban."

Kingsley looked a little uncomfortable as he asked, "Vince, do you have anywhere to go? You can't stay here."

Vince looked around now, his first time to see the damage from the outside. "No, we certainly can't stay here." He looked at Harry and smiled. "It is fortuitous that you helped me with the wards." He looked back at his old friend. "Harry recently gave me some help and we raised the wards on the Bones Estate house a week ago tomorrow."

Kingsley slumped. "That's not long enough for them to be charged to the point of safety."

"That's not true in this case," Vince grinned. "They're already stronger than when Amelia lived there; I checked last night. Harry helped me improve them. There's still more to do, but they're strong enough we can move there. I'll need to call Winky back and have her start moving everything that's not damaged."

"I'll call Dobby to help. He was helping us this morning. We've already sent a number of boxes over," Harry told him.

"Ah, good start and again fortune smiles on us in the midst of this difficulty," Vince said.

"Uh, Auror Shacklebolt?" Harry asked hesitantly, afraid to ask but felt he had to. "Was I the reason for this attack?"

"Harry," Vince said and clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder, all before Kingsley could say anything. "That is a question that doesn't really matter, so don't torture yourself over it. Death Eater attacks don't always make sense to us. All you can do is to survive and do your best to fight back when you can - which you did spectacularly according to Pat. Now, I won't allow you to blame yourself for any of this, unless you want to blame yourself for being the reason everyone here survived and were not hurt except for one scratch. All of this can be fixed with some time and effort. All right?"

Harry looked at the Auror who nodded slowly. "Wise words, Harry. Take them to heart. You and your friends survived and the Death Eaters were put down like the rabid dogs that they are. Why they attacked doesn't matter."

"Thanks," Harry told him, thankful for the lack of blame, even though he thought he was probably the cause of the attack now that he thought about it - especially considering what had happened at Christmas. At least he had put the attackers down so they'd never go after anyone ever again.

"Why don't you call your elf and start everyone packing," Vince told him. I think it would do my wife good to keep busy for the rest of the day. I'll be inside in a few minutes."

"All right," Harry told him and went back into the house where he found Neville and Hannah trying to repair damaged walls and furniture.

"Hey, thanks for your help and I'm really glad you're all right." Harry gave each a brief hug. "I don't think we'll be having that dinner tonight," which caused the other two to chuckle grimly, "but can you stick around for a couple of hours and help us pack?"

"Going to the estate house?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, Vince thinks it'll be safe enough. Just conjure boxes and shrink stuff down the big stuff before packing. The elves will be taking it all over," Harry told them. They nodded and started. Harry told Susan and Pat before calling Dobby and then starting to pack too.

A few minutes later Vince started working on the back of the house. Harry stopped packing and helped him repair the back wall. They finished by the time the Aurors left nearly an hour later.

An hour after that, Neville and Hannah went home with a promise of another dinner while the Bones and Harry left for the Bones Estate. Vince and Pat's first house was empty of all but some broken furniture.

That night as he went to bed, Harry considered the trying day, what had happened as well as his feelings and thoughts. Sadly, his conclusion was that he was going to have to stop being so neutral about the war. He knew you didn't win a war by being defensive, so he'd have to take the fight to the Death Eaters. Fortunately, he didn't have to have a plan right now; but he thought he'd have to have a plan before he returned to school.

* * *

A few days later, Harry awoke by being pounced on and then soundly kissed, which felt like a great way to wake up once he realized what was going on.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Susan told him.

"Thanks," he told her as he grinned at her. "You're making it really hard not to do more with you."

She kissed him again. "You might not have to wait too much longer, but four little words could change everything." With a wink, she rolled off the bed and left his room for breakfast since she was fully dressed.

Harry rose and got dressed as he considered her comment. He wasn't completely certain which four words would move things forward, but he could think of four that would probably do it. He also wondered if his guess was what she meant.

As he sat down, Pat put a large plate of food in front of him, one that was probably made by Winky since they were all together now. "Happy Birthday, Harry. How does it feel to be seventeen?"

"Good so far, but you can ask me again tonight; I might have a better answer," he told her.

"So, you're still going to leave me for the morning?" Susan asked, sounding a little bored.

"Sorry," he told her, knowing that she really wasn't all that put out. "I've got some things to take care of at Gringotts to get into my family vault, which may lead to other things I have to take care of. I promise I'll be back by one or so to take you out for the afternoon." He looked out the back windows. "Looks like we'll have some clouds to reduce the heat, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"All right," she told him. "I'll see if Hannah is free for the morning."

When he'd finished breakfast, he gave each of the women a hug and then left, after he made sure he had everything he thought he'd need.

Arriving at Gringotts, he waited for a few moments and then told the teller in front of him, "I need to claim my family vault; I'm seventeen today."

The teller studied at him for a moment before calling a younger goblin over and talking in their native tongue. "Follow me," the younger one said and walked towards the back.

A minute later he was in an office with an older goblin. "Identification?"

Harry pulled out his vault key and handed it over.

The goblin held it a moment and nodded before reaching into his desk for some paperwork. After filling the page out, he handed it to Harry and said, "Sign."

Harry saw that he was allowing the family vault to be reopened now that there was an adult member of the family available. "The last person in the vault was one of my parents?"

"Correct."

With a flourish, Harry signed the document and handed it back. "Is there space in it to move what's in my school vault into it?"

"I don't know." The goblin, who still was nameless, sounded bored. "Is there anything else, Mr Potter?"

"Err, no, thank you." As he rose, the goblin picked up and rang a bell that was on his desk and the door opened. The younger goblin who'd led him here had waited.

"Take Mr Potter to his family vault." The goblin returned to whatever he had been working on before.

Really an unfriendly lot, Harry thought as he left the office.

A few minutes and a cart ride later, Harry was standing in front of his family vault. The younger goblin also stepped out of the cart but didn't approach the door.

"I don't have a key," Harry told him.

"No key required, Wizard. Place your hand on the door and wish it to open. Either it does or I take your body to the dragons." He sounded almost as if he hoped it would be the latter outcome.

Shaking his head at the strangeness of the bankers, he walked forward and put his hand on the door. He felt a slight pull on his magic before the door clicked and popped open a few inches. Grabbing the door, Harry heaved it open.

The vault was easily ten times the size of his school vault. It also held over ten times the amount of gold and he thought his school vault's small mountain of gold was significant. There were also a few chests, which he found held some jewelry and loose precious stones. Lastly there was single book shelf that held some paperwork, none of which had his name on it.

He was disappointed not to find a letter from his parents, but he had to guess there just hadn't been time.

Searching the shelves, he eventually found a large envelope that had "Potter Estate" written on it. Inside, he found the deed to the property, a small map of the area that showed its size, and finally some instructions - which is what he had really been searching for. That envelope went into a pocket.

Happy, he scooped up a few handfuls of gold coins and put them in his money bag since he was here.

Outside, the goblin looked thoroughly bored. "I'd like to move the contents of my other vault into this one."

"That can be requested in the lobby," the goblin said as they both entered the cart.

In the lobby, Harry made the request again and handed his key over, as well as signed a contract for the work and agreed to the 25 Galleon transfer fee … money that would be recouped eventually as that was the cost of his school vault for one year - which he'd just released.

His business finished with Gringotts, Harry Apparated to the Potter estate. Making sure no one was around, he pulled out the instructions he had retrieved and followed them, starting with a spell that caused the Potter crest to show on the floor of the foundation and then putting three drops of blood on the crest. That caused a door in the floor to appear. Looking around one more time and seeing no one, Harry opened the trap door and went down, closing the door after him, which seemed to seal itself.

It was a barely organized mess. There were stacks of things which were piled haphazardly with narrow walkways. There were two other doors. Carefully threading his way over, he found one door led to a smallish room that was piled high with boxes around the edges and a large crystal rock in the center that wasn't glowing at all. There was also a small crystal stone in the far corner that glowed slightly. Obviously, this was the ward stone room, but the sight of two of them made no sense to him.

Walking over to the other door, he found a largish room that was completely stacked full of things with no walkways at all. Obviously a storage room of some sort.

Harry could only come to one conclusion. Much like the Bones's house elf had saved some of the contents of the house when Voldemort had invaded, the Potter elf, or probably elves, must have saved much of the contents of the house when it was invaded.

Heading back to the ward stone room, Harry saw a portrait of an old man who looked to be snoozing leaning against the wall. Hopeful, he walked over and knelt down to look at it. It was maybe half a meter tall, a little bigger than the portraits in the Headmaster's office. "Hello?" he called out, but the portrait remained still. Not sure what else to do, he pulled out his wand and pushed a little magic at the person in the portrait.

That caused the old man to jump up out of his chair yelling as if he'd just sat on a hot stove. He glared at Harry. "What in the bloody hell did you do that for? Calling my name would have worked just as well, James."

"I did call for you but you didn't answer and I'm not James. I'm Harry."

The old man blinked at him for a moment. "Harry? But, you look… Ah, I see Lily's influence in you now that I really look and you do look a little younger than James was when I last saw him; my mistake. What year is it then?"

"It's July of 1997, the 31st to be exact."

"Yes, yes, makes sense to see you now since it is your seventeenth birthday."

That surprised Harry. "You know when my birthday was? Who are you?"

The portrait chuckled. "I'm your grandfather, Charlus Potter at your service. You were a wee lad when I last saw you, probably just before my death I would imagine. I believe you were almost three months old." His look of fond remembrance changed to one of sadness. "I assume something happened to your parents?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, they were killed by Voldemort on the 31st of October in 1981. Only I survived because of some magic they did, or so I'm told."

"He's finally gone? Thank Merlin!"

"No, sorry … grandfather." Harry was pleased to be able to say that name, even if it was only to a portrait. "He went away for about thirteen years, but he's back in a body and he's terrorizing Britain again. However, I don't think it will be too much longer."

"Oh, why? He was quite powerful when I died, or is Dumbledore finally about to take care of him?"

Harry snorted. "Not possible as he was killed a few months ago. Besides, he never really tried that I can tell."

Charlus nodded. "That was why I asked about _finally_ taking care of him. Dumbledore never went on the offensive." He looked thoughtful. "Did he go out fighting?"

"No one really knows. Two Death Eaters killed him, but if it makes you feel better, I killed them, as well as some others." Harry paused, "And some more recently. I think that's why this war won't last too much longer. He's focusing on me and I don't plan to back down and I will kill him."

"Spoken like a true Potter," Charlus said with a smile. "It's also the reason there are so few of us. Speaking of which, since I am down in the Vault and it's been a long time waiting for you, I assume you plan to rebuild here?"

"I'd like to," Harry admitted. "Professor McGonagall showed me where the Estate was only a few months ago. I recognized there was some hiding magic, but that was all I could tell. I was hoping to find something about it in the family vault at Gringotts and I did."

"Of course, if we put all of our secrets here then you wouldn't have been able to find this place. If you want the blueprints for the house, look over on that shelf." Charlus pointed.

"Great," Harry grinned. "Do you know about the wards?"

"Not really, wasn't my forte," Charlus told him. "The last person I'm aware who did extensive work on them was William. You get the plans and I'll frame-hop to find him; he should be here somewhere."

Harry went over to the shelf and easily found the large rolled up parchment of drawings. Flipping through them, it looked like it had been an interesting house. He hoped to rebuild it much like it was, although with a few changes. He continued to look since Charlus wasn't back yet. On a back page he saw the other building had been stables, something he didn't need now but maybe he'd build something else, like a guest house or a workshop or something.

"Harry?"

He looked up to see his grandfather was back and he had a man with him with a tight doublet and ruffles around the neck. "Hi, I'm Harry."

"William Potter," the man said with a fancy bow. "Charlus tells me you're the last Potter and you want to know about the wards."

"Yes, I want to rebuild, but I need to bring the wards back up as they're completely down," Harry told him.

"Completely?!" William was aghast. "Even the hiding ward?"

"Err, no, that's still up as I had to wait until I was seventeen before I could access the family vault and find out how to get in here, but otherwise, it's all down," Harry explained.

"Well, it's a relief that the hiding ward is still working," the older man said.

"I assume that's what the smaller ward stone is for?" Harry asked. "I know I'm just getting started, but it seemed very strange to see two stones."

"Yes," the old man said proudly. "My best contribution I believe. The ward to hide the set of rooms we call The Vault is powered by a different ward stone. My thought was that if the main one was taken down, no one would think that another ward stone might be in existence and so this would all remain safe. In theory, the family could have even hid down here."

Harry sighed. "I wonder what went wrong, but I'll never know. So," he looked at the portrait, "when I want to bring these back up, you can help me?"

"I can give you some advice," the man said regretfully. "I'm sorry, but portraits don't know everything the original person did."

Harry nodded. "I understand, but this is still a great start and I would like to know about my family. How many Potters are here?"

Charlus answered this one. "There should be twelve with their spouses - not every Potter sat for a magical portrait. I'm sure you're wondering, but I don't believe James and Lily ever did, or at least not before I was last updated. Most don't have one made until later in life, so some generations are skipped."

"I see," Harry said a little sadly but not overly surprised. "Can I take you from here to talk to until the house is rebuilt?"

"As long as we're in our original frames," William answered.

"Splendid! I have to go now, but I'll be back later today," Harry told them.

"Take Charlus," William told him. "He's the most recent and will mostly likely know what you want. When you're ready for the wards, I'll be here. Also, you don't need blood to enter here now that you've unlocked it, just touch the area around the door to make the crest appear then touch the crest to open the door."

"Thanks … Grandfather William," Harry told him, leaving a number of "greats" out of the title for simplicity.

The older man harrumphed but smiled slightly as he turned and left Charlus's frame for his own.

"I'll be back later, Grandfather," Harry said with his own smile and left the hidden room.

An Apparation later and Harry was in Hogsmeade. Pulling a card that Vincent had given him, Harry walked to that address and found "Diggle Building and Remodeling (Est 1789)". Walking inside, he found an older man that looked vaguely familiar.

"Hello, can I help you?" the man called out.

"Err, yes, I hope so. My family home was destroyed some time back and I'd like to have it rebuilt. Vincent Bones recommended you to me," Harry told him.

"Wonderful. It's been a few years since I've seen him. How is Vince?"

"Other than having his home destroyed a few weeks ago, quite well," Harry commented, wondering what the man would say.

"I heard about that, truly ghastly. I assume I'll be seeing him soon?"

"Not sure, he hasn't mentioned it, but we've all been really busy," Harry said vaguely as he walked over to the desk the man was standing behind.

"Jonathan Diggle," the man said as he held his hand out.

"Harry Potter," he said as he shook the hand.

"Really? It's good to meet you Mr Potter. My Uncle Dedalus has spoken very highly of you."

"Oh," Harry exclaimed as it all came together, "that's why you look familiar."

The man chuckled. "Yes, I can't escape the family resemblance. Well, let's see what you have." he pointed at the blueprints under Harry's left arm.

With the plans rolled out on the desk, the two men looked them over. "Yes, typical Estate home from the early 1600's. Did you want to rebuild this like it was, or as best we can since all the details probably aren't here?"

"Mostly as it was; however, I do think a few modifications are in order, like a bigger kitchen. I'd guess it was built with only the house-elf ever going in there; but I'd like something the family can gather in at meal times when its only family," Harry explained.

Jonathan smiled. "A more modern interpretation, then."

"I'd also like more modern bathrooms! I don't care for the ones at Hogwarts, although Vince's Estate house is a little better."

Now Jonathan chuckled heartily. "Since I know the Potters are a wizarding family, I assume you were Muggle raised?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Because, that's a Muggle outlook. Nothing wrong with that," Jonathan said hastily, "but magic fixes some of the things you probably don't think about. Like we don't have to worry about space for pipes or drains, running out of water - even hot water - and we can make the floors a constant 'toasty' temperature. The only thing we probably really need to 'fix' for you is the arrangement to give you the appearance of more space. That's simple.

"Now, I noticed a building out back for stables. Do we need rebuild that?"

"I don't think so at this time. Maybe I'll have something done with it later," answered Harry.

"Very good. Can I go see it?" Jonathan asked. "I need to see what we have to work with."

"Sure, I can take you there."

Jonathan gave him a concerned look.

"I've had my Apparation license since last December, including the Side-Along addition. I'm quite good at it," Harry said proudly.

"Very well." Jonathan rolled up the plans before changing his sign from 'Open' to 'Back in an hour'. Leading them outside and locking his door, he put his hand on Harry's shoulder and said 'All right' a little fearfully.

Harry shook his head in the lack of trust and took them to Potter Estate. "All right?"

Jonathan looked down at himself briefly before saying, "My apologies, but I don't deal with many your age who can Apparate."

"It's all right," Harry said magnanimously. "As you can see, the foundation was a bit scorched, but otherwise looks good to me."

Pulling his wand out, Jonathan casts a few cleaning spells at the foundation and the spot turned from blackish to a light gray of granite. Inspecting it more closely, he said, "My guess is they used Fiendfyre, but you're correct that this is good." Standing and looking around, he said, "You can leave the piles of rocks; we'll break them down to sand and use that to rebuild. I don't see a place for your ward stone. I'd guess that was on the ground floor and is gone."

"Seems that way," Harry agreed to avoid the topic. "I'll deal with that when the house is done. I'll put up something temporary for you."

"Don't bother, Mr Potter. We'll put up something temporary for ourselves. You just need to arrange something by the time we're done," Diggle told him.

"When can you start and when will it be done?"

Jonathan chuckled. "I'm surprised you didn't also ask about the price."

"That would have been my next question," Harry admitted with a grin.

"I need a payment of 5,000 Galleons to start on the plans and put you on the schedule," Jonathan said. "We can probably start in late September or early October, depending on our current job and if the plans are ready - which depends mostly on you. We'll put up a big tent and work in that so the winter doesn't stop us. For a house like this, I'd guess it'll take us until some time in March or maybe April. Until we've finalized the plans, assume at least 70,000 Galleons, although it might be closer to 100. Have I scared you off?"

"Can you make a copy of those plans for me to take with me and think about the changes I want?" Harry asked with little hesitation.

"Certainly," Jonathan said with a smile. "In fact, come by tomorrow morning and I'll have enhanced ones for you. We can sign a contract then."

"Great, I'll be by tomorrow morning with the money," Harry assured him.

"If you don't mind, I'll stay a few minutes and measure the foundation to ensure it's the size the plans say it is. I'll only need about ten minutes," the builder said.

"That's fine," Harry agreed and stuck out his hand for them to shake.

"I look forward to working with you, Mr Potter. I'll see you tomorrow," Diggle told him.

Harry Apparated back to Bones estate; it was still a few minutes before noon.

— — —

Harry and Susan Apparated back to Potter Estate an hour later. Harry was still dressed as he was in jeans and t-shirt, but Susan was now dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. They proceeded to a spot by the stream and out of sight from where the house was, despite the fact that Diggle was long gone.

While Harry spread out the blanket, Susan turned around and did a little spell work. He sat down before looking to see where Susan was and froze. She had shortened her t-shirt again to show lots of stomach and he'd swear she had lost her bra too.

With a large grin, she sat down next to him and looked at the basket. "What did Winky pack for us?"

It took a few more seconds, but Harry finally came out of his daze. "Wow…" he said softly.

She flipped her hair back and continued to grin at him. "Wow what?"

"Is this, uh, is this because it's my birthday?" He hoped she was offering what he thought she was.

"Of course we're having a nice picnic on your birthday," she teased him.

"You know what I mean," he told her as he took a long and obvious look down at her chest before looking at her eyes.

"Oh, that. Possibly. Why don't we have lunch before you … get your present," she flirted with him.

"Deal," he said quickly before he opened the basket and started pulling food out. They found sandwiches cut into quarters and various other foods that were easy to eat with their fingers.

Harry also found a small, chilled bottle of wine in the basket. He said, "This is a surprise," as he pulled it out.

"Wonderful, she found one," Susan said as she pulled the bottle out of his hand and used her wand to open it. "Glasses please." She filled them as he held them out.

Susan took her glass and bumped it lightly against his. "To your seventeenth birthday and welcome to being an adult. They each took a sip.

Harry thought it was a little "sharp", but not bad overall. However, it did present him with a problem. "Susan, I'm sorry…"

"For what?" she asked honestly and looked a little confused.

"For not doing something this nice for your seventeenth birthday," he replied, thinking that should have been obvious.

She smiled and shook her head slightly. "Harry," she said slowly as if he really should have already known. "It's fine. You remembered my birthday and gave me a present on the day, as well as did your best to let me do whatever I wanted. It was a great day for me. I didn't expect anything more because, one, we were at school and we're somewhat limited there; and two, well, I didn't expect a lot because you're a boy and most boys don't do much. I will say you exceeded my expectations so I was very happy."

Thinking through that, he decided it was a positive and let her graciousness stand. "Thank you for being understanding and for this great day."

"It is a good day, but I think it will get better," she said a little mischievously. "Now, let's eat because I am hungry. I'd like a couple of those little sandwiches and some of the carrots pieces to start with."

While Harry worked on that, Susan pulled a few more things out of the basket, including some crisps, which she put on each of their plates.

As they ate, Susan asked, "How did it go this morning?"

"Well," he answered. "I found the instructions for accessing the room with the ward stone. Unfortunately, it's pretty burned out and the wards are completely down, not even a Death ward like your house had."

"Oh? Then why couldn't we find the room?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Because there was a second ward stone for the sole purpose of hiding the room and it was working just fine. I'll take you there before we leave as I want to bring a portrait home."

"You found one of your parents?" she asked excitedly.

"Sadly, no," he had to reply. "They didn't have one made, but I found one of my grandfather and I believe my grandmother is in there too, although my grandfather only implied it. So, while I might have hoped to find my parents, finding my grandparents is still very good."

Susan set her mostly empty plate down and reached out and covered his hand with hers. "I'm happy for you then."

"Thanks," he said softly. Taking a moment to clear his emotions, he then said more normally. "After that, I went to see the builder in Hogsmeade that your father told me about and we talked about rebuilding here. I have to go see him again tomorrow morning and you can come if you'd like."

"I would."

"I was hoping that, because," he paused as he looked at her and tried to project his feelings so she'd understand, "I'd like you to help me decorate it and live there one day."

Susan's look seemed to intensify a little before she snatched his mostly empty plate from him, dropping it near hers and then tackled him, rolling them away from the food, ending with Harry on bottom and her lying on top of him. Her look seemed to pierce his soul for a brief moment before she kissed him hard.

A few minutes later, she slowly disengaged and kissed the side of his face now. "Have you talked with father about this?" she murmured in his ear before nibbling on it.

He was really having a hard time thinking at the moment, but fortunately, this was an easy question. "In general terms, but nothing specific yet, but I'm thinking about doing that soon. I'm glad to see that I've guessed correctly that you'd like us to be permanent." She gave him a throaty laugh, which he decided he liked.

"Harry, did you really have any doubts after our conversation at school?" she asked with a hint of incredulity.

Pulling a hand from her bare waist, he pulled her hair that was blowing into his face from the light breeze back and over to her other shoulder so it was now away from both of them. "I suppose not, but it's still good to know. You've helped me so much, Susan, but I still wonder if I'm doing the right thing at times."

She kissed him lightly before she told him, "You're doing very well. I don't think I've had to give you any lessons on being a boyfriend this summer. Although," her expression turned a little feral, "I think you need one now. When it's just us and we're holding each other, you can touch me where you like."

Harry just blink a couple of times. "Really?" he breathed, almost not believing his good luck.

"Yes." Susan stretched and picked up her wand and cast an enlarging spell on the blanket. Before they were at the edge of it, now there was plenty of room on the blanket. She tossed the wand back towards the food before she leaned away and rolled them a little more so that they were both on their sides.

"It's your special birthday present," she told him softly. "Say 'hello' to the girls, Harry, but gently."

With an almost trembling hand, he touched her stomach and watched it quiver ever so slightly, which continued as he softly caressed her skin. Looking up at her eyes, he saw her watching him with trust and pleasure. Slowly he moved his hand upward. They spent quite some time learning more about each other and what they each liked.

— — —

"I'm amazed this is here and I couldn't see it," Susan said as Harry led her down into The Vault, as his grandfather had called it. He was a little sad their attire was completely back to normal, but that was required as they'd be in other's company soon.

"Wow," she said softly as she looked around while standing a few steps from the bottom. "It looks like most of the house is in here."

"There's still two more rooms and one is completely filled," he told her. "Follow me and I'll show you the ward room. I need a couple of minutes there before we go."

She looked around and slowly followed, finding him after he'd split the ward stone.

"Help me open this up, it's heavy," he told her.

"It won't do anything to me, will it?" she asked hesitantly, memory of Harry's trouble with the Bones' ward stone still fresh in her mind.

"No," he assured her, "it's completely powered off. However, don't touch that one to be safe," he pointed at the small one to the side that was glowing slightly.

"Right," she agreed. They struggled a little, but accomplished the work of moving one of the stone halves.

Harry stared at it for a minute or so, making sure he looked at all of it before he stood. "All right, that should be good enough I can look at it in my Pensieve later. Let's get grandfather and go."

Back in the other room, he found his grandfather and there was also a woman about his age in the frame too.

"You must be Harry," the older woman said. "I'm your grandmother, Dorea, formerly from the House of Black."

"I'm happy to meet you," Harry told her. "I was going to ask Grandfather about finding you. I'd like you both meet my very special girlfriend, Susan Bones. Unless I do something enormously stupid, she'll become Lady Potter one day."

Susan blushed slightly, but gave him a blinding smile before turning to the portraits. "Hello, I'm honored to meet you. I'm Susan, daughter of Vincent and Patricia Bones," she said with a short curtsy, which looked a little weird with her being in shorts.

"Vincent, Vincent," Charlus said absently while Dorea shook head slightly. "I'm afraid I don't remember him. I'll assume he was much younger than we were. I remember a young lady named Amelia Bones."

"That was my Aunt, my father's much older sister," Susan replied.

"Ah, good family," Charlus said approvingly while his wife smiled and nodded. "If you could find my wife's frame, that would be helpful. She can return to it and call out to help you locate it." It took a few minutes, but they left with two portraits.

At Bones Estate, Harry found his host. "Vincent, can I set these two portraits somewhere I can talk to them that's also not in my bedroom?"

Vincent looked at them and smiled. "Yes, completely understandable. Relatives of yours, I assume?"

"Yes, my grandparents, Charlus and Dorea Potter," Harry said proudly.

"Excellent, you must tell us about your day this evening. For now, let's attach them to the wall with the portraits of my family. That will give them someone to talk to when you're busy." Vince led them to a wide hallway with other portraits about the same size and with a special sticking charm, the two were added.

That evening, Philip, Lisa, and little David came over. The birthday dinner party was a quiet yet fun affair for close family. Harry told them about his day, minus the special gift from Susan; they were all happy for him. At the end, Harry decided he would like this every year.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	16. Personal Demons

**Chapter 16 - Personal Demons**

The day after Harry's birthday, he took Susan to the Black estate house on Grimmauld Place. He showed her the secret room he'd found; she was grossed out by the mummified corpse, and was relieved when Harry vanished it. With her help, they levitated five crates of the stored Galleons up to the normal study.

"Kreacher, come!" Harry called.

The elf popped in. "Master called."

"Kreacher, I'm about to go do some business. When I call you, please bring these five crates to me," Harry commanded.

The elf looked at them with a sour look. "Kreacher can not bring them; they are too heavy."

Harry and Susan looked at one another in confusion for a moment before Harry had an idea. "Kreacher, are they too heavy if you bring them one at a time?"

"No, Kreacher can do them one at a time," he admitted grudgingly.

"Ah, very good. Then when I call you from a shop in Hogsmeade, bring the five crates one at a time to me," Harry amended.

"Yes, Master." The sour creature left in a sharp pop.

"I see what you mean about having to be careful with your orders," she told him with a frown.

"It will work out eventually," he told her tightly. He knew she knew not to discuss his final plans for the house and the elf while in the house.

They Apparated to Hogsmeade and Harry introduced her to Jonathan Diggle.

"Let me show you what I have," Jonathan said proudly. "It's a special charm my family created about a century ago." With silent spell over a brand new set of blueprints, the drawing on the page seemed to pop up and they could see a three-dimensional house. The walls were slightly filmy so you could see where they were, yet transparent enough you could see through them.

"Brilliant!" "Wow!" the teens exclaimed.

"Yeah, I like it too," the man said with a pleased look. "Now that it's activated, you can touch your wand to the seal in the lower right corner and they'll fall down or pop back up. You can do that for each page. I've also filled in a few details the plans left out."

"How did you know what to put in?" Harry asked.

"I used what was common from that time period. I might be wrong, but as there are no other pictures, I had to guess and I'm probably correct." Diggle looked them. "You can take these and look at them. If you see something you'd like to change, make a note of it and I'll change it next time we meet. You can just drop by like you did this morning; I'm usually here unless I'm out checking on my building crew. Best would be to send an owl with a meeting time and then I'll be here for certain."

"Sure, this sounds great," Harry said with a nod. "Then you said once we have plans then you can give me a price?"

"That's correct." Diggle put a parchment in front of him. "That's the contract. You should read it, but basically, the 5000 Galleons is a down payment for the work and indicates commitment on your part. As we start building, I'll give you a bill for work done, with the down payment being applied to the final bill at the end. If we decide to part ways, you only owe for the work done. If we have a disagreement that we can't work out, we go before a three member panel of the Wizengamot to work it out, which I've only ever had to do once and it was because the client didn't want to pay the final installment. There are other details, but that's how it works generally."

Harry and Susan read it carefully. "Kreacher, come!" Harry called. "Where do you want them, Mr Diggle?"

The elf popped in with one crate.

"You're paying in gold and not a bank draft?" He was very surprised. "In that case, put them over there."

Kreacher dropped the wooden crate where indicated - it groaned and creaked but stayed together - before he left for the next.

Harry signed the contract and Diggle did as well. By the time they finished their business, all five crates of gold were delivered and Kreacher was gone.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mr Potter." Diggle shook Harry's hand and gave Susan a short bow. "I'll put you on the calendar as the next big project. There are a few small ones in front of you, but that won't slow us down much. If we can have the plans complete by the end of September, then we can start building in early October. Let me know when you have questions."

"Thank you, sir. Have a good day, Mr Diggle."

"Same to you both," the builder said happily.

Outside, Harry took his girlfriend's hand. "How about lunch at the Three Broomsticks before we go home and start looking out plans for our house."

She beamed at him. "Sounds like a wonderful idea."

* * *

Late morning on Saturday the second of August, Harry Apparated he and Susan to the paddock of The Burrow as requested in an note he'd received yesterday. Harry was a little surprised to see only one person waiting for them.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" Ginny gave him a hug before she turned to Susan and gave her a light hug. "I'm glad you could come too, Susan."

"Thanks," they both told her.

"Why did you want us to come down here?" Harry asked. "We could have arrived closer to the house."

"The wards do allow it," Ginny confirmed, "but I wanted to have a few minutes to speak to you two alone."

"Oh? What's up?" Susan asked, sounding like she was ready for some juicy gossip.

"I wanted to warn you," Ginny did look serious, "not to mention the upcoming wedding in my mum's presence. It's a sore topic with her."

"Seriously?" Susan was surprised and Harry agreed privately. "Why? I'd think she'd be happy for her oldest son to get married, at least from what I know of her."

"Oh, she'd delighted about him getting married, but not so much about _who to_ nor _where_ the wedding is being held," Ginny told them as they walked towards the house very slowly.

"Why?" Harry asked before Susan could.

"She doesn't care for Veela, nor really trust them really." Ginny shook her head, "I can sorta understand but for a different reason."

"Right," Susan said knowingly as Harry asked, "Why?"

The two girls looked at Harry. Ginny nodded to Susan to let her explain. "Harry, most girls don't like being around a Veela because they, well, they make us feel inadequate. We can't measure up to their beauty and we don't have their allure either."

"Quite right," Ginny agreed crisply.

"If you say so, but I always thought each girl was an individual and should be, uh, considered on her own," he replied.

Susan tugged on his arm slightly to get him to stop walking and kissed him lightly. "I hope you keep that up, Harry."

Ginny sighed wistfully and shook her head. "Anyway, the second problem is that the wedding will be in France. Mum really, really wanted to hold it here at The Burrow and she's very pissed off it won't be. I wasn't there, but Bill told me the shouting during that argument was monumental. Of course," she shrugged, "maybe it was better that it was just her, Dad, Bill, and Fleur. In many ways, it was very brave of Bill to stand up to her."

"I see," Harry said thoughtfully before looking at Susan. "I guess it's good we're from the same country, not that I have much in the way of family."

"You two are that serious?" Ginny asked casually.

"Probably," Harry replied. "Unless Susan finally gives into her smoldering desire for Draco Malfoy," he teased.

"Eww!" Susan replied instantly. "Or unless Harry goes chasing after Veela or something else dire."

"Then I'm happy for you two," Ginny told them and mostly looked it. She looked forward and saw they were approaching the house. "One last thing, Harry, don't be surprised if Ron pulls you aside. I don't know what it's about, but he seemed anxious to talk to you today. He's asked me twice if you were coming."

"Err, all right," Harry told her.

They walked into the house a moment later and saw that they were the last to arrive. They received hugs or handshakes as appropriate from Bill and Fleur, Arthur and Molly, Ron, Hermione, George, Fred, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Neville, and Hannah.

Cake and ice cream was served; everyone milled around and spoke with others, small groups shifting with time. When Harry finished talking to Katie, he saw Ron grab his third piece of cake and smiled. His smile increased as Bill and Fleur walked over to him.

"Harry," Bill sounded sincerely happy to see him as he stuck out his hand.

Harry had barely finished shaking when Fleur threw her arms around him and gave him a hug, though without the brushing of cheeks. Noticing Susan eyeing him from across the room, he was glad Bill was standing here.

"How are you doing?" Fleur asked, her English much better than the last time he'd heard her.

"Other than a few situations best left unmentioned, I've been doing quite well, thank you," Harry answered. "I believe you're doing better - congratulations to the two of you."

"Thank you," Fleur said for the two of them with Bill added a nod. "We're thrilled you and Susan will join us."

Glancing around to make sure Mrs Weasley wasn't nearby, he quietly told them, "We're happy to come see your special day. We plan to make it a short holiday too, so thank you for having it in France, although," he grinned conspiratorially, "I've heard rumors it was a hard fought battle to have it there."

"Yes, very," Bill said with a tight smile as he looked over Harry's shoulder.

Harry assumed his mother was back that way. "Still, I think it will be brilliant. Will you two be living here in Britain?"

"We will," Bill said. "I recently bought a house in fact."

Glancing around again and still finding no one too near, he asked even quieter. "Do you ever do independent work outside of Gringotts? Are you allowed to?"

Bill glanced at his wife-to-be before leaning over and kissing her lightly on the temple. "We'll be back in a moment. Cover for us?"

"Of course," she told them, all smiles as she glided towards Angelina and Alicia while Bill motioned towards the door with is head and turned that way.

Harry followed the oldest Weasley son out the back door and walked beside him as they slowly made their way around the back garden. "I need some professional and experienced advice on wards, mostly why they failed and were taken down. I also have a book that is confined to a room and I'd like to free it. I'm willing to pay."

Bill smiled at the last part. "I appreciate that you're taking this seriously, Harry. That being said, I won't charge you an arm and a leg, just the leg." He joined Harry in a chuckle at the obvious joke. "So you have a book that's bound to a room?"

"Yes."

"By family wards on a house, I'd assume?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed.

"I've heard of it before," Bill told him. "Generally, you won't get it out unless you turn the wards off, even if only for a few minutes."

"Hmm, that could be a problem," Harry said slowly.

"Ah, the old Order's headquarters?" Bill guessed.

"Correct in one."

"I see your problem and I'll give it some thought," Bill said seriously. "Can you give me more detail on your first problem?"

"This is all confidential?" Harry asked, "No offense?" he added hastily.

"No problem, Harry, and I'll only share it with Fleur for her help," Bill promised.

"Good enough," Harry acknowledged. "I'm about to rebuild the original Potter Estate house."

Bill gave a low whistle. "I'd love to have seen that. Rumors are that it was a very nice place. Bad luck that it got destroyed."

"Perhaps you will in the future; I have the plans for the original, although I'll be making a few changes," Harry smirked and Bill looked very interested. "However, it was destroyed because someone took the main ward stone down, obviously overloaded because some of the runes were literally burnt. I have the original ward sequence from a few hundred years ago from my ancestor, so I can guess as to what was there - mostly."

"Yeah, minus any modifications made by later heads of house," Bill said with understanding. "That's a great find."

"I think so too," Harry agreed readily. "However, while I generally know how the wards were taken down, probably with two or three Fiendfyres thrown against it, I'd like to understand why the wards failed and didn't stay up so I can improve upon them."

"A good plan," Bill confirmed, "but a hard one. I think I'd even be challenged to come up with a solution for that. Then again, my strengths are more in taking wards down, so I probably can help you with what failed. The how to fix them will be harder."

"Not to be too immodest, but I'm doing very well in Runes and Vincent - Susan's father - thinks I have an affinity for them. In fact, I've already developed a new power sequence that he thinks has three times the output as the normal sequence, so if the wards sequence is good but just needs more power to hold, I can fix that."

Bill stopped walking and goggled at him. "Seriously? Three times more?"

"Yes."

"I'd love to see that!"

"It's powering the Bones Estate house at the moment. I'm sure I can let you come over and wave your wand at it," Harry said with a grin.

"Deal! And I'll give you some credit on the work for that too, as long as Susan's father agrees," Bill told him.

"As long as you only look, I think I can get him to agree with that. If not, I'll let you look at mine when I bring them up. Still, I'm concerned about a fundamental error in the ward scheme and I'd like your opinion." Harry watched Bill think it through.

"When did you want to do this? I do have a honeymoon coming up," Bill grinned at him now, which Harry returned, understanding exactly what Bill was alluding to.

"Neither project is that rushed, but I'd rather look at the Potter wards soon. Construction will begin in October or late September and I'd like to be done with them before that," Harry told him.

Bill nodded. "I might be able to do that in a couple of days. Let's say twenty Galleons an hour and I doubt it will take more than a few hours. How does that sound?"

"That's fine," Harry agreed.

"As for the book problem, let's wait on that until later since there's no hurry." Bill looked a little excited. "I might even trade you time analyzing the working of your power runes in exchange for that."

"I can live with that too and we can talk about it later. Thanks Bill!" Harry stuck out his hand and they shook.

"My pleasure, Harry, especially since I think Fleur wants some extra money to decorate the house with." Bill looked a little sheepish now. "She doesn't think very highly of my furniture and decorations."

Harry couldn't help but laugh as they turned and started walking back towards the house. "I'm sure Susan would want to improve my decorations as well. Fortunately for me, I've already promised her that she can."

"Very wise," Bill said with is own chuckle. "Ginny said you two have been dating for over a year. So, she's the one for you?"

"I believe so. I haven't decided when to ask her, but she knows it's only a matter of time," Harry confessed as they neared the door.

"Promising her to let her help decorate helps with that," Bill told him.

As they were about to open the back door, it opened as Ron came out. "My turn. The girls are discussing the wedding," he said with a hint of distaste.

Bill chuckled but had no fear of walking back in. He slapped Harry on the shoulder good-naturedly. "Let me talk to Fleur and I'll owl you."

Ron let his brother pass and then walked out and motioned Harry to join him.

Harry was glad Ginny had told him about this as he watched his friend seem to struggle with something. "Ron?"

"I need you to be honest with me, please…"

"Sure, Ron, unless it's something I've promised to keep secret."

After the smallest of nods, Ron blurted, "At Christmas, did you Obliviate the two Death Eaters after Dad did?"

Harry blinked, very surprised, and he must have looked it too. "Err, Ron-"

"This is _very_ important. Did you?!" Ron demanded in a growl. "I need to know."

"Yes, but why?" Harry was beyond curious as to where this was coming from. He hadn't thought of the two Death Eaters in months.

Ron continued to lead them away from the house and towards the pond in the distance. "Dad told us all later that those two had turned up with no memories at all and that he was sure he hadn't done it. He assumed it happened as they hit their heads multiple times going through the Floo network when unconscious, but I think - now know - he was wrong."

"Why? I mean, yes I did try to remove the last few years from them, but why couldn't he have been right?" Harry asked.

"Dad said that it would take a lot of magic to erase more than week of time, a lot more than about everyone but Dumbledore has … err, had … you know what I mean."

"Yeah, so?" Harry continued.

"He also said that once you get past a certain point, that taking more time away from them isn't hard, or some theory like that. It wasn't completely clear but I understood enough. A powerful person can take a lot of time away, like years-worth." Ron stared at him for a moment. "I know you don't like to admit, but you have that power. I know I've been jealous about it enough times."

Harry was incredibly surprised his friend had admitted that last part. "All right, I guess I learned something new today, but why is this important?"

Ron started to say something before stopping suddenly, not really facing Harry. He stood still squinting his eyes closed tightly. His fists also balled and turned white for a long five count.

"Err, Ron, are you all right?"

"No!" the redhead finally in an explosive breath. "No, I'm a freaking mess and I need your help or I'm going to kill myself. There, I've said it. Take that, you monster!" He suddenly relaxed and slowly opened his eyes.

Harry could hardly believe what he'd just heard. He would have questioned his friend, but this whole episode told him Ron was not playing a joke on him.

"I'm so screwed up, Harry. I've got three voices in my head at times all telling me what to do. I was able to keep them under control for a while and the potions helped for a few months, but now…" Ron looked like he was about to cry. "The potions don't help anymore and I just can't do it any longer, mate. They're starting to control me now too. They wouldn't let me tell you for the longest time. I…"

In the blink of an eye, he tensed and his back arched. In a voice that was barely audible, he ground out, "Calming charm."

Not bothering to think about it, Harry whipped out his wand and cast the spell, pushing as much power as he could into it.

Ron's tension melted away and he smiled for the first time that day that Harry could remember.

"Thanks, mate. Yours are the best, nearly twice as good as Neville's, who's better than everyone else." Ron shook his head. "Right, I can think better now. Seriously Harry, I need you to wipe the last year from life. I need you to take _them_ out of my head with it. I know it sounds all kinds of stupid, but it's either that or I kill myself … and if this doesn't work, I'll probably do that anyway. I'm starting to have trouble controlling myself and I _won't_ hurt others."

Harry did want to say his friend was crazy. He also wanted to say Ron's suicide would hurt his family greatly, but understood what Ron was really trying to say. Still, he didn't really want to hurt his friend and all of the new found confidence and power he'd gained over the last year did not help him with the idea that he had to remove a year of his friend's life or said friend would kill himself.

"Ron, I…" Harry paused having difficulty with expressing his thoughts out loud.

"Please, Harry! I beg you! You know I hate stuff like this. Sharing feelings? Bah! Begging you? Not likely." Ron snorted at that. "But I'm really begging you, Harry. Please, for the love of Merlin do this to me." He reached over and grabbed Harry's arm, the one that still held his wand and pulled it up so the wand was pressed against his chest. "Please? While I can think straight…please."

Harry's felt his emotional heart rip. "Ron, I hate seeing you like this. I want my old friend back, but this?"

"If you want the old Ron back, then fix it, Harry. I know you can fix anything! Please," he begged again.

"I…" Harry couldn't deny his friend, yet he also wanted a way out. "Fine, but not now. I'll do it tomorrow if you'll do a few things first," Harry promised finally.

"What? I'll do it, anything, whatever it is!" Ron was fervent, fanatical even.

"First, I want you to write a letter to yourself. If I really can take a year from you, then you need to know why this was done," Harry told him. "I'm sure you'll hate me if it all works, but I want you not to hate yourself. Tell yourself why you're doing this and the misery you're in."

Ron nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can see that. Good one. What else?"

Harry dithered for a moment before his resolve hardened. "Second, I want you to sit down and talk to Ginny and your dad." Ron's eyes went wide. "Tell them what you've told me. I know not to ask you to tell your mother, but I think your dad can handle it."

Ron's fisted balled for a moment as he looked at the dirt, scuffing it for a moment.

"You're going to lose a year of school…"

"I all but failed it, so this might be a good thing," Ron mumbled without looking up.

"Still," Harry insisted, "that will cause a few issues, such as you now sharing classes with Ginny."

Ron sighed. "I hadn't thought of that."

"There's another problem, but it's something I can take care of to make it easier on you. Still, you need to convince your dad and your sister before I'll do it. There might be something I'm not thinking of and I'd like more people thinking about this so I don't do something stupid when there was a better way."

"You are a Gryffindor so stupid things that turn out right are in you," Ron quipped tightly as he finally looked back up. "Anything else?"

"No, letter to yourself and talk to your sister and dad," Harry summed it all up.

"Maybe I should let this charm wear off before I talk to them so they see the real me, but would you cast that on me again before you go?" Ron only begged with his expression this time.

With a nod, Harry said, "Sure, mate. That should let you write the letter at least."

"Naw, I'm going to go do that now. It'll probably piss off Mum that I leave the party, but right now I need all the semi-normal time I can get. I'll talk to them after the party then go lock myself in my room." Ron stopped for a moment. "Hmm, probably should give Ginny the letter to hold so I don't destroy it. Wouldn't want Mum to find it accidentally if I gave it to Dad and he set it down."

"Probably a good idea," Harry agreed. "Come on, let's go back before they come looking for us."

"Yeah." Ron started back at a brisk pace. "Thanks, Harry."

"Sure Ron." Despite his reply, Harry didn't feel sure about this idea at all.

"Listen, while I have a different perspective and before I go back to normal tomorrow," he said hopefully, "let me also tell you that I'm really sorry for all the times I've been a real … well, a jealous and thoughtless prat would probably be a good start."

Harry didn't say anything because he was speechless from hearing that, but Ron didn't seem to expect a reply as he continued on.

"That's one of the things _they_ taunt me with, how much I've screwed up and how many times I've hurt my family and friends. I don't know what I've done, but I'm sure I've done something bad to Hermione and I think Ginny too. They're so different around me now. If you know, don't tell me. I know I'll forget tomorrow, but I don't want _them_ to have anything else to torture me with in the meantime."

"I…" Harry had to pause as he had so many thoughts going through his mind. "I hope it all works."

"Me too. If not," Ron halted a few steps from the back porch, "I'll do my best to tell your parents what a great friend you've been, far better than I've been." He resumed his walk and strode quickly into the house.

Harry started to walk again - slowly - as the back screen door closed behind Ron. Dear Merlin, he had no idea how Ron had come up with this crazy idea, but he hoped it worked or else someone came up with a better idea because he didn't have one.

Entering the house, he was practically accosted by Ginny as she marched up to him, standing her nose to his chin as she quietly and fiercely demanded in a whisper, "Well?"

He noticed the scrutiny he was getting from a several others, such as Hermione, Susan, Hannah … and unfortunately Molly Weasley too. Not sure what else to do, he moved his head to the side so he could whisper directly into her ear. "He'll tell you after the party; it was one of my conditions for his request."

Standing up straight, he saw Ginny stare at him for a moment longer before she threw her arms around his neck to hug him tightly and whispered, still just as fiercely. "Thank you!" There was no doubt she cared for her brother. Letting go, she turned and hurried out of the room, her quick footsteps being heard clearly going up the stairs.

Molly Weasley glared at him slightly. "Harry?" Her questioning tone demanded an answer as to why her two youngest children were behaving so strangely. That also caused everyone else to look at him.

He sighed, he couldn't really help it as he considered how stuck in the middle he was. "Just teenage emotions, Mrs Weasley. I'm sure it'll all work itself out in a little time." That really wasn't untrue, but he didn't think he'd ever told such a huge lie of omission before and he hoped he never had to do it again.

Not sure what else to so, Harry walked over to Neville. "So, what do you plan to do with your last month of summer?"

Neville tilted his head slightly and looked at him for a long moment before he murmured, "Only you." After clearing his throat, he spoke in a more normal voice. "I've been thinking about taking Hannah over to meet my Uncle Algie. That should an interesting, at least for me. I think having her meet my Gran will have to wait until Christmas, at least."

Harry smiled a little, thankful that Neville seemed to understand and was trying to bring normalcy back.

Not too much later, Hannah and Susan both came over to join their boyfriends. Harry whispered to her, "I'm ready to go… No, I think I need to go, but I need to do one thing first. Are you all right with that?"

"Sure, Harry, that's fine; I can leave whenever," she replied.

To the group, he said, "I need to use the loo, back in a minute." He hurried to the stairs, past a mother who was - thankfully - engaged in a conversation with Bill, still trying to get him to have the wedding at The Burrow. Hurrying up the stairs, past Ginny's room that didn't seem to have her in it, nor in the bathroom either since he could see into both, he lightly knocked on Ron's door.

The door opened almost instantly by Ginny and she looked like she'd been crying.

He was actually sort of surprised to see her with her brother alone. Then again, they were on opposite sides of the room. "Hey, I said I'd come by before I left and well, I think I need to go," he said lamely, not sure what they were thinking of him.

Ginny gave him another hug and told him, "He told me what happened and what you're going to do. Thank you for being willing to help him."

"I have to because…"

"No!" he was forcefully told in stereo, not to mention each was giving him a glare.

"No," Ron repeated. "It was not your fault this happened, so just stop that. Sirius was my friend, and Voldemort's my enemy, not everything is about you, Harry."

"Ron, that's the nicest I've ever been told off,"

"Get bent, Potter," Ron said fiercely and then smiled.

"So, one more before I go?" Harry asked.

"Please."

Harry cast another calming charm at his friend. "I'll be back at three tomorrow."

"Go directly to the shed," Ginny told him, "and wear your special cloak. That way Mum won't see you."

"Right, makes sense." Not sure what else to say in the situation, he said, "Bye."

Back downstairs, he went around and told everyone good-bye, making sure that Arthur was there when he told Molly thank you for the party and good-bye.

Harry almost told Hermione what was going on, but decided to wait until after tomorrow afternoon. There was no sense in letting her worry; because he was sure she would no matter how much he told her not to.

After they had Apparated back to her home, Susan asked him, "Is everything all right between you and Ron?"

He took her out back and sat down on the wall around the new pond and water fountain Vince had installed a few days ago. There, he explained about Ron's plan and his conditions.

Susan just stared at him for a moment. "Is, is that even possible?" she finally asked.

Harry shrugged. "I'm told the theory says yes and apparently I did wipe several years from those two Death Eaters, but can I do what Ron wants? I really don't know. I'd like to ask your dad, but I'm honestly afraid to."

She considered that for a long moment. "No, I don't think you should ask him. He may find out later, but I think he'd try to stop you if he knew now."

"Will I get into trouble for doing this?"

"Don't think so because you're both adults," she told him. "Still, have Ron write something about that too before you do it."

"Yeah, probably a good suggestion." He shook his head as he considered how many ways this could go wrong. "I really hope this works."

"Me too," she agreed. "So, do you want to look at the house plans?"

Harry smiled at her and again appreciated her support. "I think that sounds like a good idea. I wonder what my grandparents can tell us too."

* * *

Harry woke up a little early and Susan barely made it to the kitchen eating area before he left. He kissed her on the cheek and said, "I should be back by lunch."

He took the Floo Network to the House of Black. As he made his way to the library, he noticed that the place was looking well, or at least it was clean, so Kreacher was still working.

"Kreacher, come," he called when he reached the library.

The elf popped in. "Master called," he said barely on the good side of civil.

"Yes, I wanted to say that the house looks good, thank you for the good job." The elf looked shocked, which caused Harry to smirk to himself; it wouldn't be good for the elf to see that. "Second, please bring me some tea; I have research to do."

The elf nodded and popped away. Harry started looking around. The books were sort of categorized, for a loose definition of the word. By the time he found the section on charms, Kreacher had put the tea on the table and left.

A couple of hours later, Harry closed the last of the group of books he had gathered and had to come to the conclusion that the theory Ron had tried to explain was actually correct. According to these books, it seemed that the magic for Obliviation was very intent based. It also seemed that there was sort of a barrier that most witches and wizards couldn't advance beyond, which was about one week of time. However, if you had enough power, and the charm resisted coordination by two or more people trying to do it at the same time, then you could go beyond a week and the upper limit was unknown. With a satisfied grin to himself as he put the books back, Harry considered that he could do up to twenty years or so based on his work last Christmas.

Next, Harry went to Hogsmeade and found Jonathan Diggle present. "Mr Diggle."

"Please, it's Jonathan. How are you doing, Harry?"

"Good this morning, Jonathan. I'm doing well. You?"

"Very good for me. What can I help you with?"

Harry pulled the plans out of his pocket and enlarged them. "I have a few questions." He also pulled out the parchment he and Susan had worked on.

The two worked on the plans for nearly an hour before Jonathan adjusted them and sent Harry home with an altered set to show Susan and consider some more.

Instead of going straight home, Harry went by Gringotts for a few minutes. His conscience felt a little better about what he would be doing this afternoon if all went well. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he failed.

— — —

Harry Apparated to the paddock of The Burrow and put his Invisibility Cloak on before making his way towards the house. While he didn't see anyone outside, he still knocked very quietly on the door to Arthur's shed. When Ginny opened the door just enough to look out, he whispered, "It's me, Harry."

She opened the door wider for him. Inside, he also saw Ron and Arthur, so he knew that Ron had talked with his father. That gave him some hope that maybe he wouldn't have to do anything to his friend. As he took off his cloak, he noticed that everyone looked very grim, not that he could blame them and he thought he probably looked the same way.

"Hey mate, thanks for coming back," Ron told.

"I promised I would. You seem to be doing all right," Harry told him and hoped it was so.

"Not really. Dad just hit me with a calming charm a few minutes ago. Before that, well, even in my 'not quite all here' state, even I knew I wasn't doing well. Like I told you, I've been going downhill and I can't stop it." Ron shook his head for a moment as if trying to get a fly off of him. "Ginny has all the parchments for you and I'm about as ready as I'll ever be."

Harry looked at the father. "Mr Weasley, I'll do this if I must, but have you come up with any other way?" He begged with his expression.

Arthur Weasley swallowed hard and looked down for a moment before looking Harry in the eye. "I want to go on record that I don't like this, but I also recognize that Ron is considered an adult and can ask you to do it if he wants. I've had many conversations with Healers over the last year and there are no other possible solutions; not from them or the Unspeakables. I'll also say that given what he's told me, I can't come up with a better solution and I'd rather see my son have to relearn his entire life than for him to kill himself, if this..." he paused as he had to swallow heavily, "if this … scheme doesn't work. I'd do it myself but I don't truly believe I can, which means I can't."

Harry sighed and looked at the last person, again begging with his expression.

"Sorry, Harry, I've got nothing better." Ginny held out the stack of parchments she had been holding by her side.

Harry looked them over. "Uh, what are all of these? And why do I have one with your name on it Ron?"

"I, err, wanted you to have copy of what I wrote to myself, well, minus one little bit that was to convince myself that I wrote it. I did that so you can help answer questions. There's one to you that you can read later. I also put one to Hermione in there; I'd appreciate it if you gave it to her when you explain this to her." Ron looked at his dad.

Arthur took up the explanation. "I also advised him to write and sign a request for you to do this, to absolve you legally." A look of dread came over him. "I also had him write up one for Molly; Ginny has that in her room."

Harry certainly understood that last part. His hope was that Mrs Weasley would eventually have the practical outlook that her husband did; however, he expected to be _persona non grata_ around her for awhile.

Putting all of the parchments in a pocket, he slowly pulled out his wand. "Mr Weasley, my research shows that the core of this spell is really intent based. Do you concur?"

"I do. I think I tried to explain it at Christmas, but I suppose I was a little too caught up in what was happening at the time to be that succinct," said Arthur.

"Ron," Harry said formally, "are you really sure about this?"

"Abso-bloody-lutely."

Harry smiled ever so slightly at the very Ron answer. "All right, mate. I want you to do one thing to help me. Can you remember when we went into the edge of the forest a little over a year ago and found the Thestrals before we went to the Ministry?"

"Yes."

"Right, then I want you to think of that time. We were arguing about how we were going to get there, talking about the Thestrals and who was riding where. Think about that very hard." Harry lifted his wand as Ron closed his eyes. "Do you have that memory and are you thinking it through?" At Ron's nod, Harry thought to that time as well and to the fact that he'd calculated it out to be a little over thirteen months ago. " _Obliviate!_ "

A thick beam of white light hit Ron in the forehead and he staggered back a step. As the light went away, Arthur reached out and grabbed his son's arm to steady him.

While the spell left the victim in a very suggestible state, quite willing to believe anything told him if it made sense, everyone was completely silent and let the moment pass as they waited anxiously to see what happened.

Ron shook his head and then blinked rapidly. He looked around and became frightened. "What are we doing in the shed? Why's Dad here? Harry, what's going on?"

Harry almost wilted in relief. Even if he screwed up the time, at least he hadn't removed all of Ron's memories. "There's been a little accident, mate, and you're dad's here to help. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I … I … I…" Ron looked completely lost. "I don't remember." He looked around. "Why can't I remember?"

"It's all right, son," his father told him as he conjured a chair. "Sit down and we can work this out." He conjured three more chairs for the rest of them. "Now, Ron, we're going to ask you some questions and we can help you the most if you're honest with us, all right?"

Ron nodded, still looking quite fearful.

"Good, good. Now, some of these may sound a little weird, but please answer them anyway. Do you hear anyone other than the three of us, any extra voices at all?"

"No…" Ron sounded very confused.

"Good. What year of Hogwarts are you in?" Arthur asked.

"Err…" Ron looked to be thinking hard. "We just took our OWLs, so fifth."

Harry looked at Ginny who was giving him an incredulous look. "You did it!" she whispered fiercely.

"What did he do?" Ron asked, obviously overhearing her comment, not that she had really tried to keep it private.

"I'll get to that in a moment," his father told him. "Now, do you remember going to the Ministry of Magic with your friends?"

"Going to the Ministry? Err…" Ron thought very hard again. "No, I don't think so. Why would we if we were at school."

"I'll get to that in a moment too. So you remember taking your OWLs?" his father asked.

"Yeah. I think I did pretty good on them, except for Astronomy. Got kind of distracted in that one," Ron admitted. "Right?" he looked at Harry.

"Right," Harry agreed. "We watched McGonagall get attacked. She's better now."

"Good for her. Hagrid too?"

"Yes, Hagrid is fine too," answered Harry.

Ron looked at his dad. "So what happened and why does Ginny look like she's gotten … bigger?" He blushed slightly and Ginny had to stifle a snicker.

Harry knew exactly what part of Ginny Ron was referring to.

Their dad smiled. "Because she has." At Ron's mystified look, his dad continued. "Ron, there was a problem at the end of your OWLs and you went with your friends to the Ministry of Magic. While you were there you had an accident - a very … difficult accident. There are some details that I'll explain later, but you need to understand that there has been a very big change since your accident."

Ron looked at himself and it looked like he was checking that he could move everything. "I feel all right, so what happened?"

"You were attacked by something I can't really describe while you were in the Department of Mysteries and, well, you've lost a little over a year. It's early August after what should have been your sixth year." Arthur looked at him, obvious evaluating him.

"I…" Ron stopped. "You're having me on, aren't you? Ha-ha, good one. I admit those two look a little older, but a little magic and an enlargement charm on her bra and here we are. How did Fred and George convince you to do this?"

Arthur shook his head. "I was afraid of this. Ginny, I need the letter."

Ginny pulled a letter out and handed it over.

"Son, do you recognize this handwriting?" his father asked.

"Looks like mine, why?" Ron said as he took it.

"Open it and read it," he father told him.

Slowly Ron pulled it out and started to read. Based on how long it was until he looked up, Harry thought he must have read it at least twice if not three times. Ron looked like he wasn't sure if he should believe it, yet it seemed like he did. He looked at his dad again.

"I'm sorry, Ron, but it's true. I didn't want to do this, Harry didn't want to do it, Ginny didn't want it done, but we all didn't want you to kill yourself. I'm not making this up. You all but swore a magical oath that if you didn't have the voices taken out of your head that you'd kill yourself so you wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Honestly," Arthur took a deep breath and smiled for the first time since Harry had arrived, "I wasn't even sure it would work, but I was so desperate to save you that I agreed. I … I didn't want to lose you." The father grabbed his son's shoulders and pulled him up with himself and hugged his son tightly. "I've never been so happy to see you, Ron."

Harry had to wipe the moisture from his eyes at the emotional moment and he also had to agree with everything said. A hand grabbed his and he saw Ginny mouthing, "Thank you," at him as tears silently went down her face. He nodded, fully understanding.

His father explained a few more things before they decided to go in. Arthur shook Harry's hand before suddenly pulling him in and giving him a tight hug like his wife usually did. "Thank you for giving me my son back."

"I'm just glad it worked," Harry told him. "I, uh, I did something to help Ron, or maybe you. I'm sure you'll find it soon."

"Harry," Arthur sounded a little disappointed.

"No, I'm not taking it back," Harry insisted.

"But you've done so much already," Arthur insisted back.

"Please don't worry about it." Harry let go and stepped back, still glad he'd put a year's tuition for Hogwarts in the Weasleys' vault.

Arthur smiled at him. "I didn't know your parents, but they'd be so proud of you for helping your friends." He looked at his son and daughter. "Well, let's go tell your mother."

"Go ahead, Dad," Ginny said looking fairly serious, "I'll be there in a moment. I want to tell Harry something before he leaves."

"Maybe I could get a snack while we're waiting on her?" Ron asked, causing everyone else to chuckle.

"I think that can be arranged," his father told as he led the way.

"Thanks, Harry," Ron told him. "We'll talk more later; after I understand better."

"Sure, no problem, mate," Harry told him as the two left. He turned to Ginny who was standing there looking at him. "What did you need before I leave?"

Ginny slowly walked up to him and stood in front of him much like she had the previous day. "Harry, I can't really thank you enough for giving me my real brother back. I may complain about him, but I love him dearly. I'm so amazed at what you just did, and I'm so thankful that you've taken away my need to avoid him. I know you don't think of yourself this way, but you're like the second coming of Merlin."

"Ginny!"

She smiled slightly. "OK, I exaggerated a little, but not by much. So I want to really thank you for what you did. If you didn't have Susan and if I didn't like her so much, I swear I'd take you somewhere and thank you in a way you'd never forget. Instead, I'll have to leave it at this." Again, Ginny launched herself at Harry and kissed him hard.

He really couldn't help himself and his hands went to her waist and his lips responded before he realized what he was doing. As he was about to try to break it off, she did.

"Susan is such a lucky witch," she said as she stepped back. "This isn't going to happen again, so I would suggest you don't tell her about my thank you; I won't. It would strain our relationship and I'd prefer that not happen, but you deserved that reward and a lot more. Don't forget your cloak when you leave."

Harry watched her leave and shook his head. He pulled out his cloak as he considered her comment. Leaving the shed and closing the door after himself, he walked away from the house to leave the wards. By the time he was at the paddock again, he decided she had things right; nothing important had happened and it would be best that Susan didn't know about that "thank you".

Thinking very carefully, he Apparated away and landed in the back garden of a nice house. He was glad he'd been here before so he knew where to go. Taking off his special cloak, he walked to the back door and knocked. A moment later, Hermione answered the door with her wand in hand.

"That was foolish, Harry. I almost hexed you before I realized who you were," she told him as she let him in.

He stood at the door for a moment. "Are your parents home?"

"Yes, why?"

He lowered his voice even if he couldn't see anyone behind her. "Perhaps we should go outside then. I need to tell you something and I think you'd prefer it be just us."

She looked at him critically for a moment. "Who did we rescue at the end of our third year?"

Harry grinned. "A little late for that, don't you think?" When her wand snapped up and was pointed at him, he replied, "Well, let's see, Sirius obviously, but I think we could also count Ron, myself, and Buckbeak."

Hermione nodded before she turned and shouted, "I'll be out back for a few minutes with a friend." She came out and closed the door after her before leading him to a bench in their garden. Her wand stayed out.

Harry sat beside her and cast the Muffling charm on them both, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Yes, it's that private, but I'll let you decide how much you tell your parents."

"All right, what happened? This is about Ron and what he said to you yesterday, isn't it?" she asked pointedly.

"It is. Look, there's no way to ease into this, so I'll just say that Ron told me he'd had enough. He was having trouble telling us what was really going on because he was always hearing voices in his head and he thought they were starting to control him. He all but said he was going crazy and if he didn't get help very soon then he was going to kill himself so he didn't hurt anyone."

Hermione gasped and threw he hands to her mouth in surprise and denial. "No!"

"I'm afraid so," he told her. "However it happened, he did come up with a plan. I told him I'd help him as long as he talked to Ginny and his dad first, and he had to write down why he was doing this. If he did and they agreed, then I'd help him."

"What did you do?" she asked fearfully, the knuckles around her hand were white and her other hand wasn't much better.

"I did what he asked. I Obliviated about the last thirteen months from him. The last thing he can remember is taking his OWLs." He watched her just sit there for a long moment as if frozen.

"Seriously?!" she finally said in a strangled voice.

"Yeah, I'm amazed it worked, but it did and along with the memories the voices are also gone, thankfully. He's pretty normal now, or normal for him." He was only a little surprised she threw her arms around him and silently cried on his shoulder. He patted her back and let her take a few minutes to compose herself.

When she finally let go and started to wipe her eyes, he asked her, "I know it won't be the same between the three of us, but you can and should treat him normally now. There's nothing to be afraid of from him. In fact, I have something for you." He pulled out the letters and found the one for her.

While she read hers, he decided to read the one to him. It was much like expected, mostly what they'd talked about the day before. The new parts were mostly jokes.

When Hermione finished her letter, she looked at him with new tears. "He said he's sorry for whatever he did to me. He still doesn't know but he's sure he did because I've been different."

"And now he'll never know," he assured her. "You have to let it go, Hermione. I know it was traumatic for you at the time, but you have to let it go now."

She looked down at the letter in her hands for a moment before she nodded slowly. "You're right. It'll be hard but you're right."

He almost told her that of course he was right, but decided that maybe he shouldn't joke right now. "Here," he held his letter out, "you can read this if you'd like. It may give you some more details and I don't believe he'd mind if you knew."

She just looked at it for a moment as if judging it before she snatched it out of his hand and read it. When she finished, she handed it back. "I suppose I never fully considered what those _things_ had done to him."

"I'm not sure any of us could know," he told her, trying to ease her conscious. "Are you going to be all right?"

It took long enough that Harry wasn't sure she was going to answer before she said, "I think so. I'm going to try to put this behind me and move forward."

"Good," he told her, pleased to hear her plan.

"Did you get you school letter today?" she asked, suddenly looking up at him.

"Not that I've seen, but I left early this morning and Susan didn't tell me when I went home for lunch. Did you get yours?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I was wondering if you had." She hugged him again. "Thank you for telling me, although I wished you'd told me yesterday."

"I didn't want you to worry when you couldn't have done anything about it," he explained as he stood. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks," she looked at him seriously and smiled ever so slightly. "You're my best friend."

"Not counting Susan, you're my best friend too," he assured her. "Take care, Hermione."

"Later, Harry."

He Apparated back to Bones Estate, glad to be back. Susan saw him when he walked into the main room and took him into her arms. "You look really tired. How are you and how's Ron?"

"I think I'm more mentally or maybe emotionally exhausted than anything," he told her. "It worked and Ron's doing well."

She beamed at him. "I knew you could do it. Come over and sit on the couch with me and you can tell me about it."

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.

Now you know the full price of Ron's adventure in the Department of Mysteries. It's even a happy ending - mostly. Next chapter we start our race for the end.)


	17. Plans

**Chapter 17 - Plans**

Early the next afternoon, Winky came into the living room and announced, "Mr Bill Weasley is here."

Harry looked at Vince and smiled. The two walked to the front door. While it was Vince's house, Harry took charge for the moment. "Hello, Bill, I'm glad you could make it." After shaking hands, Harry stepped to the side. "This is Vince Bones."

"A pleasure," Bill said.

"Likewise, I've heard good things about you," Vince returned. "Please follow us." He led the group through the house towards the back, picking up a board on the way.

"Harry tells me you'd like to look at the wards here," Vince said.

"Mostly," Bill told him, trying to sound agreeable. "I'd actually like to see how they work in relation to their power and sensitivity. I'm not really that interested in the actual wards themselves."

"I see." Vince stopped at the back door and looked at Bill a little more intently. "I think I'd like to make you a deal. I'll let you test the wards as you wish in return for your professional evaluation of any problems with them, and also on the condition of confidentiality."

Bill nodded, not looking surprised. "I understand your concern and I'm willing to make an contract of confidentiality. The trade seems fair as well." When Vince nodded, Bill pulled out a sheet of parchment. "My standard magical contract to keep all information about the wards here to myself and not share with anyone or to use the information against your family".

Vince read through it and signed. "Thank you," he told him and gave him a bow of the head as Bill also signed. "If you'll follow me; this would be better done out back."

"I hadn't realized you'd removed the trees from near the ward line," Harry said as they walked further from the house.

Vince gave him a grim smile. "I did it yesterday while you were gone. I feel much better about it now."

"What happened?" Bill asked.

"There was a small grove of trees just beyond the wards," Vince explained. "It's our belief that's where the curse breaker hid while he brought down the wards before my sister was killed here."

"Oh," Bill said a little contritely now that he knew. "I can see your concern and I think that was a wise move."

Vince stopped them where the trees used to be. "If you didn't feel them, we passed through the wards about five meters back."

Bill pulled out a short stubby wand. "I did feel it. You might want to stand back a bit for your own safety."

"Why the short wand?" Harry asked as Bill readied himself.

Bill held the wand up so they could get a better look. "This is a wand for a curse breaker. It's not fully attuned to me on purpose so magic is less likely to come back at me if I tap into a ward incorrectly. It's also cheap so not much is lost if it gets destroyed."

Vince and Harry nodded in understanding as they moved back to be just inside the wards.

On Bill's second spell, the board in Vince's hand gave a small chirp. All of them looked at it and saw a rune light slowly dim and go back off.

"Wow," Bill said as he looked at it and then at Vince. "You have the wards set to be very sensitive."

"No, actually I don't," Vince replied. "This is normal for them."

"Seriously?" Bill asked with incredulity. At Vince's nod, the curse breaker shook his head. "I think that answers most of my questions on sensitivity and power then. It would be exceedingly difficult for me to take these down and not set off one of your alarms. That test shouldn't have triggered anything."

Vince and Harry looked at each other and grinned. "That's good news," Vince said. "So, ignoring the sensitivity, how do the wards look for vulnerabilities?"

"This is going to set off your alarms for certain, so be ready for that." Bill moved a little further back and bent his knees a little, looking like he was ready to jump or something. He did several other spells and each set the alarms off for a little longer each time. He did yet another and the wards flared a light blue where his spell had hit.

Harry felt magic suddenly build like a static charge when walking on a wool rug in the winter. Bill jumped to the side as a white bolt of magic leapt from that spot on the wards towards the wand Bill had dropped as he had practically dived away.

When they all could see again after blinking the spots from their eyes, they saw that Bill's special wand was now a burnt, smoldering twig.

Bill stood up from the spot he had jumped and rolled to, brushing off the dirt and grass. Shaking his head he said, "That is why this is a dangerous profession and why I don't use my good wand when doing tests like this." Holding his hand over the charred wand for a second, he pulled back and pulled out a normal looking wand which he used to Vanish the remains of the destroyed one.

"Vince, in my professional opinion, I wouldn't worry about living here." Bill put his normal wand away. "If I were hired to take these wards down, and I don't do that on residences, I can say that you'd have ample warning that someone was trying to take your wards down. I'm reasonably certain you could get help here long before I could take them down and I'm honestly not certain I could take them down without getting myself killed. Is it safe for me to assume you have the Family Death Wards here also?"

Vince shrugged slightly. "Let's pretend I do."

Bill smiled, understanding the game. "You'd have time to bring them up before I could weaken them enough for a normal attempt to overload them would be successful. If it makes you feel better, I wouldn't mind living here with these wards to protect me."

"Thank you, that does make me feel better," Vince said. "Shall we return to the house?" As they started walking, he asked, "Do you have an opinion on how they might have been taken down when Amelia lived here?"

"Without looking at the ward stone, which I wouldn't expect you to show me," Bill received a nod from Vincent, "my guess is that they were weakened very slowly over a couple of weeks until they were to the point that they could be overloaded quickly. I don't believe that could be done now because they are too sensitive. That tells me about how much power they have behind them and why I wouldn't want to try to take them down. My guess is that they are about four times more powerful than normal, which is what increases their sensitivity."

"Makes sense," Vince said as he led them into the house. "Thank you, Bill." He held out his hand and they shook. "I believe Harry has the rest of your time."

"My pleasure and thank you for the opportunity, although Harry may not appreciate how much I pester him about how that was done since he said he had a hand in it," Bill said with a grin.

Vince chuckled and took a seat in the living room, returning to the day's _Daily Prophet_.

"I thought my room would be the best place to discuss this," Harry said, leading him in that direction.

"Oh? I thought we'd have to go to your house," Bill told him, very surprised.

Harry just smiled and led him to the room. Inside, he called, "Winky?"

The elf popped in and handed him two bottles of cold Butterbeer. "As you requested, Mr Harry."

"Thank you, Winky," Harry told her as he took the bottles and allowed her to pop away. As he handed one of the bottles to Bill, he was surprised to see Bill take it and then immediately stick out his hand.

"Before we start, I want to tell you 'Thank you' for what you did yesterday."

Harry took the proffered hand, which Billed shook and then held onto.

"Dad called me over last night and told me everything … not only the state Ron was in but especially what you did for him. Thank you for saving my brother." Bill shook his hand one more time before letting go.

Harry felt a little embarrassed but thought he understood. "I was glad to try and even gladder it worked."

"I understand." Bill held up his bottle. "To Ron, may he have a long life."

Harry tapped Bill's bottle with his own. "To Ron and long life." As they each took a drink for the bottle, he started to feel real friendship with the oldest Weasley son as they worked together and he understood why Ginny referred to him as "the coolest brother".

"Now, how did you want to do this?" Bill asked.

Harry gestured at the Pensieve on the table to the side.

"Ah," Bill said with a grin. "I would have given a lot to have had one of those when I worked in Egypt. Are we going in?"

"Probably best," Harry said, draining the bottle and setting it down. When Bill did the same, the two entered. It was as Harry had set it up. There was a version of Harry standing back and looking at the ward stone opened up. The two real people walked through memory-Harry and knelt down in front of the ward stone.

"Yeah, they definitely overloaded it," Bill said, pointing to the scorch marks over many of the runes. "Do you know how?"

"The best guess is with Fiendfyre, probably two or maybe three at once," Harry explained.

"Hmm," Bill said with a nod. "That would probably do it, but only after it was weakened. I'd assume that when it was weakened enough, they overloaded it quickly and then came en-masse before the defenders could call for help; that's the normal way it's done, along with Anti-Portkey and Anti-Apparation wards to contain the victims. Do you have a memory of it cleaned up so we can see the runes that are there?"

"Yeah," Harry said, thankful for the change of topic, not really wanting to consider what it must have been like for his grandparents when they were attacked. He allowed the memory to continue and they watched memory-Harry pull out his wand and clean the stone. Real-Harry paused the memory.

Bill studied what was there for a moment. "They really did a number on this. See this section here, it's so burned the runes are gone and that caused a cascading failure for the rest of them. A few of these others are barely readable. Too bad we don't know what these runes did."

"How do the rest look?" Harry asked.

"Well, I like what I see in general. This is an older scheme. It has its good and bad points, but it really should have held, which tells me they had a large crowd to overload it and I'll bet some of them died taking this down."

Harry hoped he received a good answer. "How do you think this would have done if it had the power of the wards that Vince has?"

Bill snorted. "Harry, almost any competent scheme would work well with the power that Vince's wards have."

He couldn't help it, Harry grinned. "So, I just need to fix the damaged runes, put in the new power sequence I have and I'm good to go."

"Yeah, but that's going to be a problem." Bill pointed to the stone. "You don't really have room here to add in a new power sequence; that area is full."

"Vince had the same problem and I solved that too."

"How?" Bill almost demanded.

Harry thought he sounded a lot like Hermione at the moment, which caused his grin to continue. "We put them on a new block, cut a hole in the floor to match, fused it to the rock, then fused it to the ward stone half that had the runes before closing the ward stone."

Bill blinked slowly and seemed to try to talk for a moment with nothing coming out. When he found his voice, he breathed, "That's … totally and utterly … brilliant."

"Thanks!" Harry preened slightly at the compliment from the professional. "I pointed out that the power sequence doesn't need crystal for control, so we used granite for its durability. That worked well too because the floor was also granite."

"Damn! You're going to do really well in this line of work if you keep this sort of thing up." Bill stood. "I can hardly wait to look at your house once it's done. I'll be happy to give you a professional analysis, and for free because I really want to see it."

"Bill, this is work and I'm willing to pay for it," Harry insisted.

The redhead smirked at him. "We'll figure out something when the time comes. I guess we don't have anything else to do here."

"No, but I do have one more thing to show you," Harry told him and cast the trigger to eject both of them back to his room. He pulled out a large rolled up parchment and spread it on the desk.

Bill looked it over and nodded. "Nice. This must be the original scheme since I can saw some runes in the memory that aren't shown here."

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "I believe that some changes were made over the years but never documented. Still," he pointed to a spot, "this is the place that was burned out and the length looks right, so I think we can know what was burned out."

"Burned, literally," Bill told him with a nod. "This part was for fire suppression, so I think the theory on using Fiendfyre to take the wards down was correct."

"If I gave them the extra power, how would these have held up?" Harry asked, hoping again.

"Probably fine, but I can give you a sequence that is better for that. In fact, I can give you a book with that sequence and few others you should probably consider if you're going to be making changes." Bill looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm reasonably sure Fleur has the same book too, so I'll give you one of ours."

"Bill, I can go buy one," Harry told him. "Or I might have one in the Black library."

"You might find locating one to be harder than you think as I believe they're out of print and not a book most families would have. But I'll make you a deal," Bill said to stop him, "consider it a loan and you can give it back if you find one yourself or when you don't need it any longer."

"Well," Harry drawled out as he thought, "I guess that will work. Now, now much do I owe you for the consultation today?"

"Don't worry about it, I didn't do that much," Bill told him.

"Bill…"

"Consider it my thank you for what you did for Ron. Fleur agrees with this too."

"Bill!"

"Merlin, Harry, take the gift!" Bill told him and slapped him lightly and playfully on the shoulder. "If you insist, I'll send you a bill when I owl the book, all right?"

Harry glared at him a little. He understood what Bill was doing, but he really thought Bill had earned something for this work. He did have an idea though. He was certain Bill would put zero or some ridiculously small number as the charge, but he could just change the number and send more money anyway. "Fine, that will work," he relented now that he know how to pay the man anyway.

"Glad you could see it my way," Bill told him and shook his hand. "I really appreciated today; I learned some very interesting things and that's not something that happens often now that I'm not in the field. We'll look at your problem with the book after I get back from my honeymoon."

"Yeah, no hurry there; Christmas would probably be the best time." Harry walked him to the door and bid him good-bye. While there was a lot of work in his future to get the Potter ward stone ready, he was more optimistic about it going well than he was before.

* * *

Dressed in some new black dress robes that again looked a lot like a Muggle tux, Harry used the supplied Portkey to take him and Susan to the Delacours. He looked at her dressed in her dark blue dress robes that he thought looked smashing on her. Seeing that they were both all right, he looked around and saw a lithe silvery-blonde that looked almost his age in a shiny gold dress. When the girl saw them, she became very excited and rushed over.

"Harry! You came!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, much to Susan's growing ire.

Knowing he had to do something fast, he managed to get his hands on her shoulders and push her back to arm's length away. Hoping he was right, he asked, "Gabrielle, is that really you?"

"Yes, I am surprised you recognized me." She looked very happy that he had.

"I almost didn't because you've changed so much." Hoping this would get him back into better standing with his girlfriend, he said, "I don't know if you ever met her when you were at Hogwarts, but this is Susan Bones, my very serious girlfriend."

Gabrielle pouted a little, but still cutely, as she turned to the girl. "A friend of Harry's is a friend of the family's. Welcome to Chateau Delacour." Another couple popped in behind them, which disappointed the young witch. "Others are coming, so if you go that way, you can find refreshments until it is time to start."

"Thank you," Harry told her and escorted Susan away as Gabrielle greeted the next couple, although not nearly so enthusiastically.

"Since you knew her, who was she?" Susan asked levelly, obviously trying to control her reaction.

"That was Fleur's little sister. Do you remember the little girl Fleur was supposed to rescue in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament?" he asked, still a little unsure if he would be able to fully extract himself out of the difficulty the girl had put him in.

"Vaguely. However, why did she throw herself at you?" She was still giving him a piercing look as they walked towards an area with others that were talking in small groups with drinks in hand.

"If you don't remember, Fleur was unable to rescue her and I did. I believe it left an impression on her." At her dubious look, he added, "This is a wild guess, but she could also be going through some phase as she should be fourteen or so."

"Fourteen?" Susan hissed at him in disbelief as she tried to keep her reaction private and mostly succeeded.

Not sure what else to say, he threw out, "Have you forgotten that she and her sister are Veela?"

Susan's open mouth snapped shut for a moment as she looked down. "Yes," she said quietly and then added, "That explains a lot and I'm sorry."

He really appreciated that from her. He snagged two glasses of water from a waiter. Handing one to her he said, "That's OK. However, if you see that I'm having trouble, I would appreciate if you'd rescue me before I do something stupid."

She nodded before she smiled slightly. "As long as it's not funny."

"Witch," he growled teasingly while she gave him a mischievous look, her previous concerns forgotten.

Not too much later, the guests were seated. He and Susan were placed just behind the row for the Weasleys. It was easy to notice that the bride's side had nearly twice as many people, but they were in her home country.

Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and a very stiff looking Percy walked in and took their seats in front of Harry. Ron and Ginny turned around to talk.

"Harry, Susan," Ron greeted them, with Ginny echoing them.

"Hey, how's it going?" Harry asked.

"Crazy," Ginny threw out. "Fortunately, we don't really have anything to do other than not do something stupid."

"Yeah, pretty much," Ron agreed.

Harry looked down the row before leaning forward so he could whisper, which caused the other three to lean in. "I'm surprised to see Percy here."

Ginny giggled and Ron smiled broadly. "I can't get a straight answer, but we think Bill tracked him down and threatened him with dire things if he didn't come, all for Mum's sake." Ginny nodded as she continued to stifle her laughter.

"How's your mum?" Harry still whispered.

"Still not happy the wedding is here, but better," Ron told him.

"And you?" Harry continued.

"She's better about what I had you do and not so upset with you," Ron explained.

Harry nodded, glad to hear that, although he had been asking about Ron himself.

The music started so they all had to sit back and be normal. Another older woman he didn't recognize was seated next to Percy, who he'd later learn was Aunt Muriel. Molly Weasley gave him a stern look before nodding slightly. Harry took it for as a sign that Ron was correct in his assessment.

— — —

At the reception, Harry and Susan mostly hung around Ron and Ginny, not really seeing anyone else there who was about their age and whom they knew. Harry did notice that Fred and George seemed to be trying to get closer to some of Fleur's cousins, who he thought were probably Veela too.

Eventually, Bill and Fleur made their way over as they visited with the crowd.

Fleur also threw herself at Harry and gave him a hug, though not for nearly as long as Gabrielle did. Fleur didn't create trouble for him as she did the same to Susan. "I'm glad you could make it. How are you?"

"We're doing well," Harry told them as he shook Bill's hand in congratulations. "This was very nice and thank you for inviting us."

"Are you staying longer than just today?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll be here for a few more days to make a holiday out of it," he answered. "Thought we'd spend it in Paris, though."

The bride beamed. "I'm sure you'll love it." Her smile changed to be more mischievous. "Is it just the two of you?"

Susan gave a chagrinned smile. "Unfortunately no, my parents are waiting for us at the hotel, but I'm sure we'll find some alone time."

When Bill finished chuckling with the rest, he looked at Harry. "You shouldn't have sent that extra money for my help. I told you it wasn't needed."

Harry shook his head. "Bill, you earned it and besides, I'm sure Fleur could find something useful to do with it, like new curtains or something."

Bill started to protest again, but Fleur stopped him with a touch to the shoulder. "You really didn't have to, Harry, but thank you for thinking of us. However, do expect a dinner invitation later, perhaps at Christmas."

"I'm sure that would be lovely." He looked at Susan and received an agreeing nod.

Looking to the side, Bill stiffened slightly. "Be proud and stand your ground, Harry. As far as the rest of us are concerned, you did everything right. I'm sure you'll understand that I don't want to create issues today for Fleur, so we'll see you later." He escorted Fleur away, whose expression had also just darkened slightly.

"Oh no, not now," Ginny muttered just loud enough for Harry to hear. He wondered what was going on when _the person_ made her presence known by stepping in front of him.

"Mrs Weasley," he said formally. He mentally thanked her husband for being present also.

Molly Weasley looked mostly at him, after she gave a small nod at Susan. "Harry, I can appreciate the good results for your action…"

"Mum!" Ron said warningly as he stepped forward from slightly behind Harry, where he and his sister had been when Bill and Fleur had come by.

His mother froze his interruption with a commanding look before returning her gaze to Harry. "I can appreciate your good results, but how could you have done that to my son without consulting me first?"

By Arthur's apologetic look, Harry thought the man had tried to prevent this, but the woman's stubbornness had insisted on this confrontation. Despite feeling he was in a no-win situation and that this wasn't the correct place for this discussion, Harry decided to try his best anyway. "Mrs Weasley, let's be honest with one another. If I'd told you beforehand, would you have done everything in your power to stop me?"

"Probably," she admitted.

"If you'd stopped me, then you would have left Ron no choice to follow through on his original plan: to kill himself before he hurt someone. I wasn't willing to risk that and thought that helping Ron remain alive was more important than protecting your feelings. If you're still unhappy with me, I'm sorry." Harry watched her as she studied him, her gaze neutral but penetrating. He did his best not to flinch or look away.

After another long moment, she nodded at him. "I still don't like that I was ignored in this."

He considered pointing out that her husband had approved, but he really didn't want the confrontation to continue. "I did what I thought was best and what's done is done, Mrs Weasley. If you'll excuse us, I wish to tell a few people 'thank you' before we leave." With a bow of his head, he escorted Susan away and in the direction of the Delacour parents, leaving two friends upset at their mother and one disappointed husband behind; the mother was quiet but still didn't look very happy with him.

* * *

When the Harry and the Bones returned home from France after being away for nearly a week, Winky greeted them. "Welcome back. The house is safe and the alarms did not make a sound. I have post for you. Newspapers from when you were away are in the living room." The largest stack of post was handed to Vince. Pat and Susan received a few as well.

Harry was surprised to receive two letters. "Thank you, Winky. Did Dobby help you? I told him to make himself available."

"Yes, Mr Harry. Dobby helped with the grounds," she replied. "I shall have dinner ready in an hour," Winky told everyone before disappearing into the kitchen. They all went into the living room.

Harry saw one from Hogwarts but held onto that and opened his other letter first; he was surprised to find it was from Ron and was dated yesterday.

 _Harry,_

 _Not sure when you'll get this, but bad news mate. If you haven't seen the Prophet, it seems the Death Eaters took over the Ministry while we were gone. Worse, they burned down The Burrow while we were gone, probably on the day of Bill's wedding from what we can tell. Thank Merlin we didn't listen to Mum and have the wedding here. We're staying with a relative, the old one you met with us at the wedding. I'm so bored here after two days, but as Dad points out, we're safe for now._

 _Dad still has his job at the moment. He said even this Ministry needs to keep the Muggles unaware of us, but he's not sure how long he'll get to keep it. Mum created a greenhouse and planted a garden in it in case we need that later. It's all really depressing to think about._

 _Looks like Hogwarts will stay open. We finally got our letters this morning. Dad's worried about us going, but says we have to or it could bring extra attention on the family that we don't want._

 _Be careful and we'll see you on the train._

 _Ron_

Harry felt bad for the Weasleys, but at least they had someone to stay with. This also made him rethink his plans on rebuilding Potter Estate. Perhaps he'd put that on hold and Diggle could start when the war was over.

Looking up at the others to see they were all reading their post, he reached for the pile of newspapers since no one else had. Sure enough, there was a headline about Scrimgeour being sacked and was now missing while the Ministry was under new leadership.

"The war has started for real," Harry said quietly but getting the attention of everyone instantly. "Scrimgeour's gone and it's not hard to guess that the new Minister for Magic will be under Voldemort's control." He passed the newspaper around. He also handed Ron's letter to Susan so she could read it.

He opened his other letter and found his book list, a list that was very late considering the school year should be starting in a little less than two weeks. In addition, based on what he now knew, he was surprised to see that he still was a Prefect. He wasn't sure if that worried him or not, but he did resolve to consider his plans for returning a little more carefully.

His last thought was reinforced by the short conversation following everyone reading the newspaper. No one knew what it meant for them, not even Vince; but no one was happy about it.

* * *

A week before Harry and Susan were to return to school, they went shopping for their school supplies. Deciding safety in numbers was appropriate, they made arrangements and met up with Neville and Hannah in The Leaky Cauldron.

The greetings were solemn and names weren't used. "Mate." "Hey." The four headed into Diagon Alley.

Harry was amazed by what he saw. "This doesn't look normal," he said quietly to Neville who was walking beside him. None of them were holding hands as each wanted to be able to get to their wand easily if required.

"No, it doesn't. It's too quiet," Neville returned just as softly. "Don't see any place closed yet, but I'd guess it's only a matter of time."

"I don't like the feel; we should hurry," Susan added and Hannah nodded her agreement.

They skipped Gringotts, since each family had a house-elf who had retrieved money anonymously for them, and went straight to the shops. The book store was the last as no one wanted to carry heavy books around everywhere.

Susan pointed at Harry's stack as they rang up. "What are the extra books for?"

"I'm thinking about asking Professor Babbling for some help in Runes," Harry explained. "Thought I might as well pick up the sixth and seventh year books too. Even if I don't use them this year, I think I want to get my NEWT in Ancient Runes eventually." She nodded in understanding before paying for hers.

When all four were done, they hurried back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Because they all could Apparate, they said their good-byes hurried and each went home.

Susan looked at her boyfriend. "I'm glad we're out of there."

Her mother came in and asked, "Why? What happened?" Obviously she'd heard her daughter's comment.

"It was creepy, Mum," the girl replied. "It was really quiet, not anything like it normally was. Very few people were out and it felt like we were always being watched."

"I agree," Harry told her. "I kept my hand near my wand the entire time." And ready to use my other powers, he thought but didn't want to say. "Don't go there alone."

"Owl order if you can," Susan added.

Pat looked grim at hearing that but nodded. "I'm glad you made it home safe then. I don't think you should go back, even in a group."

The two teens looked at each other. "I don't think that will be a problem, Mum," Susan told her.

— — —

Late that night as Harry was about to go to bed, he was in his room when a small bright light rushed through the walls and ran into him. He heard a familiar voice in his head.

 _It's not safe for you and you friends to return. Others are now in charge. Do not try to contact us._

Harry dropped wearily on his bed and started thinking very hard about his plans for school now. He felt caught in a moral dilemma.

After thinking for a while and wishing his parents were here to discuss this, he decided that he did have an option. Very quietly, he opened his door and looked out. It seemed like everyone was asleep. He made his way to the hallway on the ground floor and woke up his grandmother by tapping on her frame. He made a shushing gesture before pointing to his grandfather's portrait. She nodded and hopped frames. Harry took that frame down and quietly remade his way back to his room.

Silencing his bedroom, he propped the picture up on chair as he sat on the bed. His grandmother had woken his grandfather and they both looked at him in concern. "What's wrong, Harry?" his grandfather asked.

"I need some advice," Harry said gravely. "The war has restarted and I just learned it's not safe for me or my friends to return to school, which starts in about a week."

"Who told you?"

"McGonagall," Harry answered. "She also said that the Death Eaters are in charge and I shouldn't try to contact her or Flitwick, and probably not anyone else like Sprout either. I, uh, I don't want to put my friends in danger by going back, but I need to return so I can take care of this. I don't want to fight, but I have the ability to end it."

The two images looked at each other for a moment. "That's very noble of you, Harry, but you need to preserve the Potters. More importantly, while I think you are probably a good wizard for your age, it's only you against an entire organization. You'd be better following her advice and staying away. You can fight a war against a few at a time better when you aren't stuck at school."

He considered his grandfather's advice for a moment before he smiled. "I can see your point, but I've already started that. In July, I killed ten Death Eaters when they attacked us; that is known. But last June, I've killed six others and no one knows about them other than Susan. I also have a plan for returning to school."

"But Harry, they will send reinforcements and the school may be a castle, but you can't keep them out indefinitely," his grandmother argued.

Harry smiled again. "Let me tell you about my plan and a special power I have…"

They talked for well over an hour. Harry felt better at the end, his grandparents didn't. However, he considered that maybe that was just because they were portraits and weren't real, which showed their limitations. Still, even without them being real, they did leave him with a good suggestion, which he'd carry out on Saturday or Sunday.

* * *

On Saturday afternoon, the 30th of August, Harry found Vince outside working on his back garden arrangement. He had picked now because Susan was over at Hannah's for a bit. "Vince, can I have a few moments of your time?"

"Certainly, Harry. What can I do for you?"

"Could we go inside to your study? I'd rather this be just between us." Harry hoped he didn't look as nervous as he felt.

Vince considered him for a moment before smiling. "Of course, Harry … a moment though." He used his wand to clean some dirt off of himself before he led them into his study.

"If I may?" Harry held up his wand and Vince nodded, so Harry put privacy spells up before taking a seat and looking at Vince, who was waiting patiently and looked slightly amused for no reason Harry could fathom.

"Vince, I need some advice. As you know, we all return to school on Monday morning. I received a message the other night saying it was no longer safe for me and my friends to return." He noted Vince's amusement was now entirely gone having been replaced with concern. "I don't want to put Susan or anyone else in danger with my presence, because I know the Death Eaters will be after me, but I need to return for another reason.

"I've asked a few people I trust about this and the war in general. All have pointed out the dangers, but all said it would have to be me who made the final decision. I guess I'd like to know what you think since it would be involving Susan."

Vince looked very grave. "What exactly are you proposing to do? How great of a danger do you think all of your friends will be in?"

"I trust them to stand with me and guard my back, but it will be me doing as much of the work as possible so they don't have to experience too much danger; of course, unexpected things can happen. As for what I'm proposing, I, uh, I plan to clean up the school by removing all of those that support Voldemort. That will bring a number of others from the other side to the castle and I'll take them out as they come. I'm also thinking that you and Pat, and really anyone at risk, should come to the school for your own safety so they can't get to us through you. With many of the parents there, we should be safe. I think my actions will gather enough attention that they won't wait too long to come after us. In fact, I predict the war will be over in a few weeks, or by Halloween at the latest."

"Lad, you make me want to take you into work and have you checked out, but I know you well enough to say that I don't think you're crazy unless you've injured your head lately. Therefore, you must have not told me something." Vince studied him carefully, judgingly.

"This is all in the strictest of confidences, no telling anyone, not even Pat?" At Vince's surprised look, he added, "Susan is the only other person who knows this. My grandparents' portraits do too, but they can only be forced to answer by me. I will tell Pat if you can convince me it's necessary."

"You want my healer's confidentiality?" Vince asked.

"Exactly. You'll understand after I tell you."

It took a moment, but Vince finally told him, "Very well, we'll consider this as a healer patient-discussion, although an alliance between House Bones and House Potter could also cover it."

"True, and that would have to do for Pat, but for now, I'd prefer to avoid that as it could also bring Phillip into this because he's your heir and I'd prefer not to." Harry grinned. "See, I have been paying attention to your lessons this summer."

Vince chuckled softly. "Yes, you have. I will say again that I appreciate your sincerity and efforts in them. Now, what makes you think you can do this?"

Harry took a deep breath for confidence before he said simply, "I have control over air, sort of like an Elementalist."

Vince sat there and blinked for several seconds. "Really?"

Harry caused air to pick up a log sitting next to the fireplace, set it on its end on the hearth, then split it, all without moving more than his head to look at it. The "air axe head" had been plainly visible.

"That's how I defended your house so well. I used what I think of as an 'air spear' on the attackers. It works like a very strong Piercing hex and I can create a few of them at once and send them flying at my target about as fast as I can think of them and they travel as fast as a spell. Because they work on line of sight, they can go any direction I want and can hit any place I can see, or at least that I can visualize. Basically, air will do anything I imagine, including large and destructive whirlwinds. However, it can be more deadly to simply bump someone arm who's casting a curse so that it goes the direction I want and not where they want. I can also create shields that can protect from curses, although I've never tested it against the Unforgivables, so I don't know what those will do to my shield."

Vince sat speechless for nearly a minute and Harry let him think it all through before he added, "Vince, I don't like killing people and I don't want to do it; but I make an exception for Death Eaters. When I talked to Madam Pomfrey at school, she said she views each person in our society like a patient. She can fix most of them, but some are like a disease and must be removed. She just tries to do as little removal as possible." Since the man was a healer, Harry hoped that helped his argument.

Clearing his throat a few times, Vince finally said, "Yes, Poppy's view is not too dissimilar to my own for this topic. In addition, I can see why you think you have the power; but Harry, even you can be taken by surprise and enough people can still take you down."

Harry explained a little more of his plan, but ended with, "That's my plan, but I also recognize that I'm sure things will change along the way. I also will have help, not only from Susan and my other friends, but from most of the professors; the other professors will be neutral and at least guard the other students."

"I'm left with all kinds of questions, Harry, but I suppose there are only two that truly matter. First, you don't know how many Death Eaters there really are. Second, are you sure that you can absolutely handle You-Know-Who, because you're right that he will come after you when you do this."

"With Professor McGonagall's help, I'm not worried about the Death Eaters. As for Voldemort, yes, because he doesn't know what I can do and again, I'll have a little help to distract him."

Vince looked at the split log for a long moment before looking back at Harry. "I can see your motivation and I agree your plan is as good as you can do with what you know. However, it's what you don't know that worries me."

"That's why I want you and Pat to come join us when we send word," Harry told him.

With a nod, Vince commented, "I should bring all the Muggle-born from the hospital too."

"It wouldn't hurt," Harry agreed. "Tell them to bring all the food they have in their homes too. I don't think we'll be there long, but better safe than sorry."

Vince looked at him carefully. "You know, when you wanted to speak with me, this was not the topic I imagined, but one that was more personal between us."

"Oh?" Harry was very surprised.

"I expected a very formal conversation since you've been dating my daughter for well over a year and you're both seventeen." Vince's smile returned.

Harry suddenly realized why Vince had be smiling so much when asked to talk in private. He looked down for a moment and smiled to himself as he thought of his girlfriend. "I have been thinking about that quite a bit lately too," he said quietly. After a long moment, he looked up and said, "Mr Bones, I love Susan very much and she's become very special to me. I would like to formally request her hand in marriage and for your blessing as well. I'm not sure when I'll ask her, but I think soon after the war is over is for the best, should something unfortunate happen."

Vince had started to smile again, but sobered at the last part. "Yes, well, I can see your point about the timing, although I do hope to skip the unfortunate parts." His smile returned slowly. "I wasn't sure what to think when Susan first wrote us and told us about the two of you dating. There was so much contradictory information about you."

Harry nodded, fully understanding that.

"However, as we've come to know you, both Pat and I agree that you're a good young man, someone whom we feel will love Susan and treat her well." Vince stuck out his hand. "You have my permission and blessing. Welcome to the family, Harry."

Harry took the hand. Vince shook before pulling him in for a brief hug.

"So, how long have you been seriously thinking about this?" Vince asked.

"Most of the summer," Harry replied. "I think what really set it all in my mind was how good it was to have Susan help me with the house and just dealing with things this summer. It was all just so … natural, like it was supposed to be that way."

"That sounds like a good sign," Vince said with a slap on the back. "To do you a favor, I won't tell Pat until after you win it all. That way she doesn't tell Susan it's coming."

"Thanks," Harry told him with a grin. "Susan is all the motivation I need to make sure I win."

* * *

"What's wrong?" Susan asked as they ate breakfast before heading to school. "In fact, you looked more serious than normal yesterday too."

Harry looked up and saw Vince giving him a knowing look, as if he'd expected it. Pat looked merely curious, so he guessed Vince hadn't told his wife about their temporary change in lodging yet.

"I'm a little concerned about the train station and then later. Please promise me that you'll do your best to stay aware of our surroundings and you'll let me know if you see anything suspicious," he told her.

"You're concerned about what will happen now that the ministry has changed?" she asked as she finished her meal.

"Yeah," he answered. "I don't expect anything to happen on the train platform, but better safe than sorry.

Pat looked concerned now. "Do you expect something to happen once you get to school?"

"That would be the most obvious place if something were to happen, but I trust the remaining staff from last year." Harry was glad he'd dodged the question since she didn't ask more.

They finished breakfast with light conversation before the four Apparated to the train platform. Harry tensed and quickly looked around as they arrived. Nothing out of the ordinary was seen and he relaxed. They walked to the side before Vince and Pat both gave them hugs and told them to be careful.

Harry led Susan into the train where he expanded their cabin again.

"Why didn't you create a table this time?" Susan asked as Harry put both of their trunks up in the carrier.

"I wanted more room," he told her. She gave him a curious look but didn't say anything as she sat down and snuggled into his side. After a moment, Harry pulled his wand out and cast an unbreakable charm at each window. At her quizzical look, he said, "Just being cautious because I don't know what to expect. We'll talk about it later when everyone is here."

"All right," she said acceptingly, but still with a tone that he better not forget.

As each friend came, greetings were spread around. Harry noticed that almost everyone looked and acted normal, even Ginny. Hermione was the exception by going straight to his other side and sitting.

When the two Weasleys, last as usual, were comfortable, Harry looked at them all. "I want everyone to be careful today and this evening."

Immediately Hermione asked, "You mean because of the change at the Ministry?"

"Yes," Harry answered with a nod. "There is the potential for a lot of danger, especially if you're near me." He gave a pointed look at Susan, but she didn't flinch. "I don't plan to cause trouble if they'll leave me alone, but I don't expect them to leave me alone. Also, if I find there are Death Eaters there, I will take care of them and quickly if at possible."

"Why are you expecting trouble?" Luna asked, blinking slowly.

Harry looked around again, meeting everyone in the eye to express the importance of this. "I received a message the other night saying it wasn't safe for me or my friends to return to Hogwarts. I take that to mean all of you because they might do something to you to get to me. If anyone here thinks it's too much for them, then I'd suggest you return home from Hogsmeade and never go to school. I'll even help you leave if you need it."

"Who told you?" asked Hannah.

"McGonagall sent the message," he told her.

Several of them muttered to each other and Harry let them. He was surprised he wasn't getting more of a reaction from Ron, but his old friend was just sitting there looking thoughtful.

Neville was the first to react after a moment. "I'm with you, Harry."

"Me too!" everyone else chimed in as the train jerked and started moving slowly towards school.

Harry was a little surprised that Megan and Lilith agreed, but they did. "Thank you," he told them all sincerely. "This means that you need to be very aware and careful of who's around you at all times. I expect them to do something tonight to separate me. If that happens, don't worry about because I have a plan and I'll start it then."

"But Harry…" Susan started to protest.

This was the part he knew was going to be the hardest to convince them. "No, you have to let me go with them as long as it's not a lot, say more than five or six. Keep your wands hidden and stay aware. I can take care of myself and I'll start the process of securing the castle. It all starts with us and making Hogwarts safe. There will be plenty for all of you to do before this is all over."

Susan didn't look happy, but she didn't argue either.

"Harry, Hermione, it's time to go," Hannah told them.

"Right," Harry agreed before giving Susan a kiss on her temple and standing. "Lock the door behind us and stay aware. The three of us will stay together as well. If you have to go to the loo, go in pairs."

"Well, that'll be awkward," Ron commented sarcastically but still with a hint of a smile, drawing a snigger from Neville.

"Maybe you could convince one of the girls," Harry quipped back, drawing protests from the girls. "Or maybe you could tell them about how your dad found an anonymous healer to heal you this summer then you won't think about having to go to the loo."

Most of the others looked at Ron as the trio of Prefects left.

"That was a little mean, Harry," Hermione told him as the three walked down the aisle of the train.

"Maybe, but it seemed like a good ideal to help him get the message across that he's better," he replied. "Besides, I'm sure Ginny will help fill in some of the blanks."

Hannah gave him a glare. "It's not fair that I don't get to hear the explanation too."

"Hey," Harry tried to sooth her, "Ron can tell you later, or Susan can. The point is that he's like his normal self now and not like last year."

"Thank Merlin," Hannah murmured as the three walked through the last door and into the first passenger car and obviously into a hostile environment based on the suspicious looks and glares, not only going around the room but directed at Harry when he appeared.

He took a seat next to a Ravenclaw fifth year as he looked around more carefully. It appeared as if everything revolved around houses with the Slytherins on one end, the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs on the other end, and the Ravenclaws in the middle and trying to stay neutral. He also noticed that Pansy Parkinson was Head Girl while a Slytherin sixth-year boy, Henderson if he remembered correctly, was Head Boy. Zabini was still a Prefect though, and Davis had been promoted to the seventh-year female Prefect position.

Looking back as the last Prefects entered the car, he noticed that Parkinson was keeping an eye on him. Harry gave her a passive face of indifference.

"Surprised to see you here, Potter," Parkinson told him with a smirk.

Harry shrugged, "Someone has to be Prefect, so why not me since I was one last year."

"Probably not for long, though," she quipped. The Head Boy chuckled and it wasn't a pleasant sound.

Harry shrugged again and casually said, "Maybe, maybe not, but if I'm not, it won't be because of you." Her eyes narrowed as he added, "If Malfoy couldn't take me, you sure can't … not that he was much of challenge."

"If you're still here tomorrow, maybe I'll show you," she said acidly.

Shrugging yet again and staying casual, since that approach seemed to be getting to her, he told her, "It's good to see that you still have dreams, Parkinson. However, I'm willing to show you how much of dream it is if you think you're better than I am by accepting a challenge to a duel tomorrow morning … if you're at breakfast and willing to make it.

"By the way, since it seems everyone is here, shouldn't you be starting this meeting or is this something else you can't really do by yourself?"

Parkinson glared at him intensely for a moment before she sneered at him and mumbled, "We'll see about that," as she pulled some parchments out, split the short stack, and handed half to her left and half to her right before starting her orders on patrols.

A glance at Hermione showed her to be pressed back in her seat and giving him incredulous looks at his audacity. Looking at Hannah, he saw she was giving him a thoughtful look. Beside her, Ernie was giving him a surprised look yet he also seemed to trying to figure him out as Hannah was.

Taking a schedule, Harry noticed that names weren't on it at all, just house and year, making them very generic. The Head Boy and Girl from last year had put all of their names on the schedule. That made him wonder if maybe Parkinson wasn't aware of who was going to be a Prefect before today. He did receive his badge late in August, so maybe there was more uncertainty that he'd heard.

The meeting finally ended without more verbal skirmishes, but it had confirmed a few things for him.

Harry and his friends led the exodus from the train car. As they entered the second car on their way to the back, Hermione hissed, "Harry, what did you think you were doing taunting her like that? She's going to come after you now."

He smiled pleasantly at her. "She can try, but it's all part of my cunning plan."

"A plan that's likely to get you hexed in the back," Hermione retorted.

"Probably not, but we'll talk about that in a few minutes," he returned as they exited that car and traversed to the next.

It wasn't until Harry reached their cabin that Harry realized that Ernie had followed them. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to include him, but Ernie had been in the DA and shown himself trustworthy, so Harry didn't try to send him away.

As Harry, Hermione, and Hannah took their seats, Ernie stepped into their cabin and blinked, his hand slowly closing the door behind him automatically as he looked around. "Well, this is nice. Who did the work? I didn't think this sort of thing was taught until towards the end of the seventh year."

"Why are you here?" Ron asked curiously and calmly.

Ernie looked at him, surprised by the question. "Uh, I was following Harry to find why he did what he did." He looked at Harry. "That took some stones, mate, but why?"

Susan scowled at her boyfriend and then at Ernie. "What did he do?"

"I've started my plan," Harry said, wanting to be in control of the conversation. "Take a seat, Ernie, as long as you understand this all stays secret until I say otherwise."

"Of course, Harry," Ernie Macmillan assured him as he squeezed in next to Ron, who looked a little put out at having to move.

Harry took a deep breath. "Look, I told you earlier that they're going to focus on me. I confirmed that in the Prefect's meeting when I irritated Pansy Parkinson enough that she wanted to retaliate against me with more than words but didn't. That tells me she was told not to drive me away from school."

"Irritated her, Harry?" Hermione retorted aghast. "That was beyond irritated and I still think you need to watch your back around her."

"Right," Hannah agreed, looking at Harry. "By doing that and her not doing something more drastic, plus telling you she didn't think you'd be at school tomorrow morning, you know they have something planned for you."

"Exactly," Harry confirmed. "So stay alert about who and what is happening around you. Also, stay in a group, no going off by yourself. I will start taking them down when I can until the school is safe. I'm tired of people trying to mess with me and my friends. If they'd leave us alone, I'm sure we could find a way to work things out, but they don't seem to want to do that, so I'm going to end it."

"What about you, Harry?" Susan asked worriedly. "You shouldn't be alone either."

Harry turned to her and place his hand gently on the side of her face, speaking directly to her as if the others weren't there. "I'll be fine as long it's only a few of them at a time, you know that. Lay low and let them focus on me. Of course," he let a small grin escape, "if there's too many of them and I call for help, I do expect you to come save me."

"You better believe I will," she told him fiercely.

He let his finger caress her cheek as he pulled his hand away and turned to the others. "In the meantime, let's keep an eye out, especially those of us who are Prefects and will be wandering the corridors. Be sure to keep an eye out on firsties to make sure they don't get picked on."

Ernie rose, much to Ron's obvious relief. "Thanks for letting me know and trusting me, Harry. If you need help, call and I'll be there." He looked at his patrol buddy. "Hannah, according to the schedule it's our turn now."

"Coming," she told him as she looked at her boyfriend and squeezed his hand. "Back in a bit."

As the two Hufflepuff Prefects left, Ginny said, "Harry, Susan, can I talk to you outside for a moment, please?"

Harry looked at Susan, who looked as mystified as he felt, and said, "Sure."

When the three were outside the cabin and the door was closed, a nervous Ginny looked at the two of them. "I, uh, well," she paused and steeled herself with a deep breath. "What is Jacob Houghton really like?"

Harry blinked, not having a clue as to whom she was talking about.

Fortunately for him, Susan smiled and asked, "I assume you two have been talking in some way?"

Ginny looked down for a brief moment and nodded. When she looked back up she was smiling. "He talked to me a few times at the end of last year and we've been writing each other over the summer. I just," she paused and looked at Harry quickly before she went back to Susan. "I just want to know that he's a good guy and that I can trust him."

Now Harry understood and he was proud of her for starting to work past her fear. "I don't know him," he told her, "but I can threaten him should he misbehave … if you like." Susan backhanded him on the arm lightly to make him shut up while Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Harry," the younger Gryffindor looked at him pointedly, "it's going to be hard enough with Ron in my classes now, I don't need another big brother."

"Oh, right, I forgot about that. Susan?" He looked at her to save him from his gaff, but she was shaking her head slightly in exasperation.

"Ginny," the Hufflepuff put a hand lightly on her shoulder, "you'll be fine with Jacob. It'll probably be slow with him because he's really shy, but he's a good guy. If you have any questions or problems, come find Hannah or myself; we'll deal with it not your brother or this lug."

"Thanks!" Ginny leaned forward and gave Susan a quick hug. "And slow is perfect." She glanced at Harry before turning back to Susan. "Don't be too hard on him, he means well and he really doesn't act like a big brother because a big brother would have done something rude without asking first." She smiled at Harry in a forgiving way and then went back into their cabin.

"So, almost fail but not quite?" Harry asked.

"Not quite," she agreed. "That seemed a little strange to me. Do you know why she was so hesitant to go out with him?"

Harry looked both ways down the corridor, even with not seeing anyone, he whispered, "Yes, but I've promised not to tell. Trust me she has a good reason and it has nothing to do with her new boyfriend."

Susan nodded, accepting the answer though she looked a little disappointed.

Harry decided to try to make her forget for a while by stepping forward and kissing her. She didn't protest at all.

In the end, nothing else had happened on the train ride which pleased Harry. Fighting in close quarters wouldn't have been good for either side. In some ways, Hogsmeade wasn't much better as there were too many places to hide; then again, he could escape, as could most of his friends. He'd have to take this one step at a time.

* * *

(A/N: Sorry for the cliffy and stopping, but I need to split it here for length.)

Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	18. First Blood

(A/N: Thought I'd be nice and not make you wait to long for this. :)

* * *

 **Ch** **18 - First Blood**

Harry looked out the window of the train when they arrived. He didn't see any obvious danger, but that didn't really mean much as Hogsmeade had many places to hide. Then again, he could escape, as could most of his friends - most being the operative word he realized.

"Ginny, stay near me; Luna, stay near Susan; Ron, stay near Neville. If something happens before we're through the gates of the school, we'll Apparate you three away since you don't have your license yet." Harry looked around and received nods from everyone; most looked a little nervous - including Ernie who'd just rejoined them.

They exited the train and made their way to the carriages, nervously looking around them the entire time. Eventually, they boarded and started their trip to the school. Harry relaxed a little as they went through the gates. "That makes it a little better," he commented to the half of the group that was in his carriage.

Susan nodded. "There are fewer people who can attack us, and probably fewer places to attack from."

"Those were my thoughts too," Harry agreed. "There are still plenty of dangers ahead of us. I think the worst is not knowing exactly what they'll do." He received several nods, but no suggestions about how to deal with the situation.

When they arrived at the front steps of the school and disembarked, Harry noticed there were several older Slytherins standing around, but still nothing bad happened as they walked into the school and into the Great Hall. Harry hated being reactive, but knew he couldn't strike first without an faultless reason … which he didn't have.

He squeezed Susan's hand as they split to take a seat at their own house table. He was a little worried they'd ignore him and go after Susan, but it was risk he had to take. If they did that, well, there weren't be anything left of them when he was done if they touched Susan.

Harry took a seat on the side of the table that put his back to the wall, and he sat nearest the door. He was not surprised when the rest of his friends sat near him, with Neville sitting on his right and Hermione on his left and Ron across from him.

Looking at the head table for more than a glance showed McGonagall in a seat that was not next to the center. So not only was she not in the center golden chair, she wasn't leading the first years in either. The man in the golden chair caused Harry to freeze.

"What is it, mate?" Neville asked softly from his right, recognizing his friend's destress.

"The one sitting in the Headmaster's place," Harry returned just as softly, "he was the survivor from the attack here last June. He should be in Azkaban."

Neville put his hand in front of his mouth as if to cover a cough. "Definitely a Death Eater then. What about the other new one left of McGonagall?"

"Never seen him before," Harry answered as the last of the older students took their places.

A few minutes later, the main doors opened and yet another man they'd never seen before led the first years in. Harry listened to the Sorting Hat's song carefully and was surprised; it was the most boring and generic song he'd ever heard. It talked about the four founders, the traits of each house, and that was it. There were no warnings or encouragements, as if even the Sorting Hat was treading carefully.

When the sorting ended, Hermione whispered, "They didn't sort anywhere near evenly."

"Nope," Harry whispered back, also surprised. The Slytherins had received only eight new members with the rest of the fifty or so new students being split mostly evenly between the other three houses.

The man in middle stood to address them, and Harry felt the man's gaze directly for a moment, obviously being singled out.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor Amycus Carrow and I'll be your Headmaster this year. The Deputy Headmaster is," he held out his hand toward the man who'd led the first years in, "Donald Yaxley, who will also be your Dark Arts teacher. I'll let the other teachers introduce themselves in their classroom since we're still missing one and he won't be here until tomorrow. Enjoy your dinner." As he sat, the food magically appeared.

"Allow me," Neville said. "I learned this over the summer." With small movements and with his wand hidden from the professors, he cast a spell. Nothing happened but Neville looked pleased.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"Checking that the food was safe; Gran said there are a few potions that will be missed by that, but they're hard to make as well as hard to find and buy." Neville started dishing our dinner for himself.

"Thanks, mate," Harry told him. "I hadn't thought of that."

"No reason for you to have," Neville replied. "Gran heard a few rumors and decided I needed to learn. I thought she was a bit barmy at the time, but now I'm glad she taught me."

"So far so good," Ron commented as he ate.

"Yeah," Harry said, also noticing that Ron was eating more politely but thought it best not to say anything about that. "I'd hate to think I was being paranoid for nothing, but I suppose normal would be good."

"Do you think the other new professor is for Muggle Studies?" Hermione asked. "I don't see Professor Burbage. Of course, I don't see Professors Trelawney or Wilkins either, and Hagrid is missing too."

"I don't really know, but I'd guess the new professor is for Potions, in place of Professor Wilkins," Harry said as he glanced at the teachers again. "Of all the ones missing, that's the most important one. I also wonder who the missing one is. I also don't like the fact that another one is coming tomorrow."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"It interferes with my plans, assuming that I get to do any of them tonight," Harry answered vaguely. He looked at Neville. "Who's this Yaxley? I thought they were all gone?"

Neville shrugged. "Not sure, probably another cousin from somewhere."

As the pudding course started, Headmaster Carrow rose from his place and walked around the end of his table on the Gryffindor side before walking slowly down the aisle between the Gryffindor table and the wall.

Harry's heart started to beat faster. "This is it," he murmured and hoped for the best. "Stay here and stay calm." Neville nodded ever so slightly while Harry hoped he could spring his trap all the while wondering what kind of a trap was being sprung on him.

A moment later, the new Headmaster was standing at his shoulder. "Mr Potter, could you come with me for a moment? There's a bit of confusion about your courses we need to clear up and then you can return to your friends."

"Of course, Headmaster," Harry replied as he stood to follow the man. He noticed Susan watching them closely and he smiled at her before he started walking out of the Great Hall.

In the corridor, Carrow closed the doors behind him. When he turned, he had his wand in his hand, growling " _Crucio!_ "

Harry was caught off guard as he hadn't seen a wand in the man's hand when he closed the door. Surprised, the spell caught him in the shoulder even as he tried to dive out of the way. The only response he could muster was to send a blast of air. Being largely uncontrolled in his surprise, haste, and pain, it hit the man in the body and threw him back two full meters the air was moving so quickly. Carrow hit the rock wall hard and was momentarily stunned.

Not too sure what else to do for the moment, Harry covered the Death Eater in a shell that held him to the wall, much as a Lethifold would smother its victim. That also covered his face, which caused him start to struggle to breathe, not that Harry particularly cared at the moment. Rubbing his left shoulder and moving his arm around, he tried to work out the tingling and discomfort while getting feeling back into where he'd been hit. He also noticed a cut on his hand from scraping it on the stone floor. He conjured a bandage to stop the slow bleeding.

When he felt a little more normal, he pulled out his wand and summoned Carrow's dropped wand as he relaxed the shell of air. The man dropped to the floor on hands and knees and started to gulp great breaths of air.

With a jab and pull, Harry tried to summon any other wands from Carrow, but that failed, as did a summoning of Portkeys.

 _I should have killed him last June_ , Harry thought, but instead he said, "What was the plan for me?"

Carrow gave him a rebellious look and sneer but didn't answer.

"Very well, I'll assume the worst, which doesn't help you." A little sad he was going to have to do this, but knowing the Death Eaters wouldn't hesitate to do the same to him, he cast, " _Imperio!_ " The man struggled for a moment but eventually became relaxed looking as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Now, what was the plan for me?" Harry asked in a commanding voice.

"If you showed up, I was to capture you and hold you until the Dark Lord came to get you."

Harry considered that. He could have Carrow send the message to start the final battle, but he didn't think he was ready and he was also concerned for many others outside of Hogwarts. "Who is coming tomorrow and what time is he supposed to be here?"

"Richard Travers is supposed to be here at eight in the morning."

"Who on the staff has the Dark Mark?" Harry asked.

"Myself, Yaxley, and Travers."

Now for the question Harry was almost afraid to ask. "Are there any marked students?"

"Parkinson and Henderson."

Harry shook his head that they would do this so young, but at least it was only two of them. "How many sympathizers are there, students you can count on to do things for you?"

"Five."

That wasn't all that many, Harry considered and then wondered if there were fewer Death Eaters than they all imagined. Still, he'd start his clean up plan with these. "Name them."

Carrow did. There were three Slytherins, one Ravenclaw, and surprisingly one Gryffindor … a roommate of Colin Creevey.

"I want you to open the door and call Yaxley, Parkinson, and Henderson out. Make any signs or say any code words you need so as not to arouse suspicion that you are no longer in control; but get them to come out here," commanded Harry. "Once all three are here, close the door again."

Carrow walked over to the door and opened it. He then asked help from the required three.

Harry moved over slightly so he could just see through the door opening and caught Neville's eye. Harry nodded and grinned to let him know he was fine, which caused his friend to relax slightly.

Putting his hands behind his back as if bound, Harry moved back and waited.

Parkinson and Henderson came out first; the witch looked very pleased to see Harry with his hands behind his back. "What wrong, Potter? Having troubles?" she taunted.

He shrugged and tilted his head. "The Headmaster and I were having a conversation and thought you'd like to join."

The two Slytherins started to amble over with malicious looks. Harry became slightly worried they'd make it over to him before Yaxley joined him, so he started to back up slowly. When Parkinson was two steps from him, with Henderson right behind, Yaxley walked through the doors and asked, "What do you need us for?"

Just as Carrow closed the door, Harry sent a spear of air at Parkinson and then one at Yaxley. Parkinson froze with a look of horror on her face as she looked down at the front of her robes to see blood coming out in slow spurts. She fell to the ground just as Henderson did behind her, since the spear had gone completely through her and into him. Yaxley also fell to the ground.

Harry wasn't sure what had happened to Carrow as he was looking at the three Death Eaters he'd just killed, but he saw Carrow diving for Yaxley's dropped wand. Maybe Harry had let the Imperius slip, but more likely the violence had shocked Carrow out of the curse and back into control; whatever, it didn't matter as the man went after the one thing that was near and could help him. In a panic, Harry send a hail of balls of air at the man, just as he had at Grayback last June … with the same result.

"Bloody hell! I wasn't finished with him yet," Harry swore angrily at the man's early death. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself as he surveyed the scene. Knowing he couldn't take too long here, yet glad he had the majority of the opposition out of the way, Harry summoned two badges and put them in his pocket before he grinned and and put his thoughts of the Death Eaters into action. "For Cedric," he muttered as he transfigured the bodies into dragon droppings and then cleaned up the remaining blood.

"Kreacher, come!" It only took a couple of seconds for one of his "secret weapons" to appear.

"You called, Master."

"Kreacher, please gather this excrement and put it in one of the cells in the Black secret basement to keep it safe. I might need that later." Harry hoped he didn't, but one never knew what the future might bring.

"Yes, Master." The elf snapped his fingers and a box appeared before he snapped again and moved the excrement into the container and left.

Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath he walked to the door and opened it. Standing in the door, he turned as if talking to someone in the Entrance Hall and said with a slightly louder voice than normal, "Yes, Headmaster, I'll pass your message along."

Closing the door, he saw he had nearly every pair of eyes on him. Walking over to Neville, he whispered, "When I act, stun Sparks in sixth year. Also, tell Hermione to stun seventh year Cornfoot in Ravenclaw at the same time."

Harry turned and walked over to the aisle between Hufflepuff and Slytherin. While he saw Susan and Hannah watching him carefully, he paid more attention to finding the Slytherins he needed. Unfortunately, one of them was sitting nowhere near the other.

Although all the Slytherins were watching him carefully, he tried to pay them no mind and appear to be looking straight ahead towards the professors. As he approached Zabini, he whipped out his wand and sent a Stunning spell before casting a quick Banishment down the table and using a ball of air to the chest of the third.

Tracey Davis slumped over and Zabini caught her. Meanwhile, the other two went flying backwards. Harry used the space beside Davis to step up on the bench and then up onto the table. Two quick Stunning spells and the two fifth years were out. Harry took a quick step and then leapt over the Slytherin bench between two students to complete going to the other aisle. Spinning as he landed, he now had the outside wall to his back and he could see all of the Great Hall, which included Neville and Hermione standing with wands out.

"Quiet and no one move!" Harry shouted. Murmurs rose along with angry looks from the Slytherins, so he shouted, "I said quiet and I'll explain!"

It did slowly quiet, but Harry could tell they were right at the boiling point and he had better explain quickly. "Those five people were sworn to help the Death Eaters and would have turned anyone in for punishment who didn't do what the Death Eaters asked."

The room went deathly silent at that and everyone started to look around.

"Professors Carrow and Yaxley were marked Death Eaters, as were Parkinson and Henderson. All of them are out of commission at the moment, which means that right now, the school should be safe."

It took a few seconds, but slowly a few Gryffindors started to clap and then the whole school started to cheer. While the Slytherins weren't as enthusiastic as the Gryffindors, even they clapped.

When the cheering let up, Harry continued. "Now, I'm going to turn things back over to Professor McGonagall to run in a few minutes, but there is one more thing to do first to help us stay safe. Everyone here is going to swear a magical oath that they will not help the Death Eaters, You-Know-Who, or try to hurt anyone in this castle in a way that would help either the Death Eaters or You-Know-Who. We need to do this so everyone will feel safe now that we are at war.

"I'll even go first." Harry held up his wand and said, " _Ego fides_. I, Harry Potter, do swear this Wizard's Oath on my magic, that I will not help the Death Eaters, the wizard commonly known as You-Know-Who, or try to hurt anyone in the school as a way to help the Death Eaters or You-Know-Who; so I swear, _Ego fides_."

He looked to the Head Table. "Professors, you next please."

This was a weak link in his plan, not having been able to brief McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout in on his plan. The reality was his research last year had shown that the magical oath actually didn't do anything magical as it was really a myth, but it was a myth everyone believed to be true. So this was a colossal bluff, but one he was willing to take to help with morale and better behavior. He was also betting that anyone who knew otherwise wouldn't challenge him on this. For true magical enforcement, everyone would have had to make an Unbreakable Vow and he didn't think he could get away with requiring that.

To his relief, Professor Flitwick crawled on his chair and stood, holding his wand high. " _Ego fides_. I, Filius Flitwick, do swear this Wizard's Oath on my magic, that I will not help the Death Eaters, the wizard commonly know as You-Know-Who, or try to hurt anyone in the school as a way to help the Death Eaters or You-Know-Who; so I swear, _Ego fides_."

Flitwick looked at him and nodded, which clued Harry in that the Charms professor not only knew the truth but realized what Harry was trying to do.

McGonagall gave him a cool look before she raised her wand in the air and gave the oath. Each of the professors followed, to his immense relief, although the librarian - Madam Pince - gave him a stern look before she gave her oath.

"Very good," Harry said when they were done. "Now each and every student starting with the seventh year Slytherins." He looked at Blaise Zabini and nodded.

Zabini stared back for a moment before he looked at Davis who was lying unconscious on the bench and shook his head in consternation. Standing, his held his wand up and gave his oath.

By the time all the sixth and fifth years had finished, and the fourth years were starting, Harry looked at the professors. "Professors Sprout, Flitwick, and McGonagall, if you would, please start your houses and make sure everyone gives their oath then we'll be finished sooner."

The three looked at each other and all rose to start their houses. Harry was thrilled this was going as well as it was, with the professors following his lead. He also wondered how far he could push things, but decided not to go much farther.

When the Slytherins finished under his supervision, he levitated the five stunned students to the side and bound them. "Dobby, come," he called quietly and the elf popped in.

"Yes, Master Harry?"

"Dobby, please quietly go ask Professor McGonagall where we can put these five students to hold them until later, then work with the other house-elves at the school to take them to that holding cell. Also, be sure to search them to make sure they have only their clothes; remove anything else from them."

Dobby nodded and popped away. Harry summoned the wands from the five students and held onto them.

When all the oaths had been given and the feast restarted at the pudding course, Harry walked up to Professor McGonagall and dropped two badges into her hand. "I think you'll need to give these out. The previous owners won't need them."

She looked at the Head Boy and Head Girl badges. "Where are they?" she asked quietly.

Harry had been anticipating this question while the oaths were being given and still didn't have an answer that would fully satisfied her, so he told her, "They've left and they won't be a problem for us any longer. As for the five unmarked ones, I guess we'll have to hold them until the war is over and we can give them to Aurors we can trust to sort out."

"I suppose that will have to do for now," she said, although she sounded like she didn't care for the state of things.

"If I may, I'd like to talk to you after the meal about security measures. In fact, I'd like to be in charge of security until the war is over, since I'll be leading the defense."

McGonagall looked at him intently for a moment. "So you've accepted the prophecy and Albus's plan?"

Harry was surprised, but then decided that his comment probably looked that way to her, something he hadn't considered. "No Professor, I haven't accepted his plan, whatever it was. However, I have accepted the fact that I'm the most successful fighter against _him_ and his followers and I'm ready for this war to be over. That's why I started cleaning things up here. Even I can recognize that there are times I will need to do things I don't care to do, but I'm going to fix things my way since no one else seems to be doing so."

She dithered for a moment before she replied, "That seems rather harsh, but I can understand your point of view."

"I'd also like to make an announcement before everyone leaves, if I may. I don't want anyone's family held hostage to use against us, so I think letters should go out tonight. The magical families can come here while we tell the Muggle-born to have their families go on holiday - a month should be enough," he explained.

Despite her look of surprise, she replied, "That does seem practical and I can help make that happen. Why don't you finish eating and we'll sort out matters soon."

With a nod, he left but decided to stop by the Hufflepuff table first. He wasn't surprised when Susan jumped up to meet him and almost hugged him to death. "Hey, I'm fine," he told her soothingly as he rubbed her back.

Susan finally let go and told him, "We're going to talk later. How's your hand?" She was looking at his bandages.

"Fine, I just scraped it when I had to dive out of the way of a spell. Our talk will probably have to be tomorrow as I'll be up late dealing with security, but I promise to tell you all about it, all right?" He hoped that was enough.

"Later," she told him pointedly before she sat back down.

Not quite sure what else to do, Harry walked back over to his spot, expecting lots of questions from there. As he sat, he noticed Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Vector all standing together behind the head table and talking.

Dropping into his seat, Harry reached for some pie as Hermione asked the first set of questions.

"Harry, are you all right? Did they do anything to you besides hurting your hand? What are you going to be doing next?"

He took a bite of his pie as he looked around and saw that everyone near him was waiting anxiously for his answers. "I'm fine; I just scraped my hand when I had to dive out of the way of a spell. Carrow surprised me a little, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, as you can see. So the first part of my plan is going forward much as I'd hoped. As for what's next, I'll make an announcement soon and then tomorrow we start getting ready to defend the school and end the war."

"Really, Harry," Hermione harrumphed, "it won't be that easy."

"I didn't say it would be easy," he replied between bites, "but the basic plan is simple to understand."

"That makes sense," Neville agreed. "Now that the school is safe, we work on making that spread. Do you have plans on how to do that?"

"Generally," Harry answered with a grin.

"Just generally?" Hermione shrieked quietly, losing her struggle to contain her outburst fully. "You're taking us into full civil war and you only have a general plan?"

"Hermione, calm down," Harry commanded her and then watched as she struggled and mostly tamped down her emotions.

"A general plan is about all we can do because we can't control the other side; however, I believe that will be good enough." Harry noticed the teachers were ending their mini-conference.

McGonagall walked back to the front and shouted, "May I have your attention!" Everyone quieted quickly and looked at her eagerly. "Very good. I have a few announcements before you all go back to your houses.

"First, we will send letters out tonight to your families to help them stay safe."

It was no surprise to Harry that many of those around him looked relieved to hear that.

McGonagall continued as it quieted again. "There will two types of letters. If your family is magical, they will be advised to either come here tomorrow morning, or else to go into hiding. If your family is not magical, they will be advised to either go on holiday for a month or else start taking extra precautions. A teacher will come to your house shortly after you and you can take the appropriate version of letter for your family to address it and we'll see that they receive it first thing in the morning.

"Second, there will be a number of tasks which must be done as soon as possible tomorrow. Therefore, there will be no classes as the teachers will not be available. Also, please be available and ready to help when asked. Many things will have to be moved, arranged, and prepared for our visiting families.

"Third, there will be a few changes and we ask you to be understanding. For example, Miss Abbot and Mr Potter, please come up to the front."

Harry was expecting to be called, but this seemed like it was for something else.

When he arrived after Hannah, McGonagall held out her hand. "Your Prefect badges please." She took them and handed them new ones as she turned to the student body. "Miss Abbot will be Head Girl this year and Mr Potter will be Head Boy." They received loud applause as they pinned their new badges on.

"The replacements for the empty Prefect positions will be filled tomorrow morning." McGonagall looked at Hannah and said quietly, "You may take your seat."

As the Hufflepuff sat, McGonagall addressed the students again. "I would also like to announce that until the fighting is over, Mr Potter will be in charge of security due to his experience in fighting Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. His plans will need to be approved by me, but he will be taking the lead on security while we handle other matters. Now, before you go to your dorms, Mr Potter has a few words for us."

Harry took a deep breath as he looked over the audience. Many students looked uneasy and even scared while they seemed to be looking to him for hope … or so it seemed to him.

"Does everyone feel safer now?" he asked, trying to project as much confidence into his voice as he could. He heard a number of "yeses" and saw many nodding heads. "Great! Remember this feeling because this is what we're fighting for. We're fighting for a life that can be lived in peace. There will always be disagreements, but we don't have to draw wands to solve them … we can talk and work it out. That being said, if others think that violence is the answer and attack us, then we will vigorously defend ourselves.

"The letters are the first step to making you feel safer. I know that I have people out there," he waved at walls, "that I care about and I want them to be safe too, just as you care about your family. So we'll bring them here or for those that can't come, they can flee for a short while.

"I believe this won't take long and then we can all have peace. Are you with me?"

"YES!" was shouted back, mostly by the older students.

"Together!" Harry shouted and pumped his arm, buoyant in fervor.

"TOGETHER!" everyone shouted back at him.

"That's right; we'll win together starting tomorrow. Don't forget, a teacher will be along shortly, so don't go straight to bed; everyone needs to make sure a letter goes out for them. If you have a brother or sister here, there only needs to be one letter for your family and the oldest one is responsible to make sure that happens. All Prefects, be sure everyone makes it back and then to breakfast in morning; we eat at eight. Good-night everyone!" There were several enthusiastic shouts as the students started to rise and talk to each other.

Harry felt good at the moment and it seemed like most here felt they had hope. Looking at the Gryffindor table, he caught Neville's eye and pointed to Hermione. Neville nodded and started helping her to get the Gryffindors heading in the right direction before taking up the position at the end of the line with her.

Satisfied that Gryffindor was taken care of, he turned to McGonagall who was looking at him speculatively. "What?" he asked, very perplexed.

She nodded to herself and gave her barest of smiles. "I believe we've chosen well with you. Come, Mr Potter; Professor Flitwick should have the first draft of the letters done by now." She sighed and sounded very tired. "There will be much to do tomorrow, but I feel so much better about our situation than I did a few hours ago."

Now it was Harry's turn to give a wry smile as he suppressed his initial thought about how much work there would be tomorrow as the response contained language she wouldn't approve of. "Yes, there will be a lot of work, but we all have to start somewhere."

Her gaze upon him turned stern for a brief moment. "You took a great risk with your demand of a Wizard's Oath from everyone; a few of the older students from Wizarding families _might_ know it's meaningless. However, I can understand that you did that to make people feel safer."

"I did." Harry shrugged. "It was a calculated risk that very few would know the real truth about it. I would have liked to have talked to you about it beforehand so you'd know what I was doing, but I do appreciate you following my lead."

"It was courageous and cunning, well done," she told him with a hint of pride.

While Flitwick was still writing a letter, the other was on the table in front of him so Harry picked it up and read. This one was to the parents of Muggle-born. It explained the Wizarding world was in troubled times and they needed to leave the country or move to a different location for a month if at all possible. They were also urged to take all extra precautions possible for safety until word could be given that the conflict was over. "Good enough," Harry said as he put it back down.

A moment later, Flitwick handed him the second letter. It was much like the other but worded more for magical families. It also said that those who wanted to live at the school for protection needed to be at the gates between nine and noon. Harry noticed that Flitwick had had the same idea he had mentioned only to Vince. "Good idea to have them bring any food they have available. I'd also suggest adding something about if they already have a Wizarding tent to bring it."

"Yes, that will make it more comfortable for them as we crowd everyone in," Flitwick said with approval as he took the letter back to add that.

"I agree," McGonagall told him approvingly, "that is a good idea."

An elf popped in suddenly and looked at him expectantly, though she stayed quiet.

"Yes, Winky?" Harry asked as he knelt down on one knee in front of her.

"I be begging the young master's pardon, but my Master wishes to know if they should come tonight."

Harry smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. "Please tell Vince that he should be at the front gates in the next hour or else come at nine tomorrow morning. Also, please come back and tell me his answer so we know whether to expect him tonight or not."

"What is going on?" McGonagall asked, curiously not demandingly.

"I mentioned to Vince Bones that I would start cleaning up things tonight and that I'd like his family to come here, basically what's already in the letter. He said he'd also bring all the Muggle-born from St Mungo's with him, so Madam Pomfrey will have plenty of help, should we need it."

"That would be welcome!" said a voice from behind him.

Turning, Harry saw Pomfrey smiling at him gratefully. "Hopefully, we won't need medical services, but yeah, help is always nice to have." Finding McGonagall again, he told her, "However, this also raises another issue. If Winky can come to me here that means others could send their elves and bring things or possibly people here that we don't want. Can you have the elves do something that could block elves that aren't already here?"

McGonagall nodded. "Yes, a good idea, especially since we have prisoners here and we wouldn't want them getting away. I'll take care of that in a moment as well as closing the Owlery. I'll also close the Floo Network access points shortly."

Winky popped back in just long enough to say, "Master says they will be at the gates in half an hour or less," then she was gone again.

"Things are moving so quickly," McGonagall commented and received affirming nods from all of the other teachers. "What are the next steps in your plan, Mr Potter?"

Harry looked around. He trusted the others and yet, he wasn't sure if he was ready to take them all into his utmost confidence. "Professor, perhaps you should have those who are going to help with the letters go while you, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and myself head towards the gates to receive visitors."

The teachers made arrangements quickly before the four headed out into the night. McGonagall also called the head elf and gave him instructions to secure the school from elves and owls.

Outside, Harry noticed that the stars were bright in the cloudless sky as there was no moon. They were in the middle of the cycle, which made him wonder if maybe they wouldn't see Voldemort for two weeks as he might want to wait for help from the feral werewolves.

As they walked very slowly, Harry started explaining. "My general plan is really fairly simple. First, clean the school of Death Eaters, which is done. Second, we bring families here or else send them into hiding to protect us and them, which is started. Third, we make the castle ready for defense. Fourth, we defeat the Death Eaters and their leader when they come to bring us under control.

"Obviously, the fourth item will be the hardest," Harry heard several snorts and smiled in the dark, "but that will be mostly up to me. I'll need some help to set up the trap here, but I will take care of most of the fighting. Professor McGonagall, I'll need you and Professor Babbling to strengthen the wards as much as you can as well as force them through the front gates where they can't come at us _en masse_ but only in smaller numbers. After I take out the Death Eaters and whatever else comes along, I will take on Voldemort. When he's distracted, I'll need you, Professor Flitwick, to do a spell or two to contain him … we'll talk about that more tomorrow.

"If all goes well, this will be over soon. If not, then the rest of you will need to defend the castle and hopefully I will have removed enough of his troops that you won't have a hard time doing that and also winning the war. That's it in broad strokes."

"It's simple enough that we should be able to carry it out, but there are many variables that you can not control," Flitwick commented. "The ones I'm most worried about is who or what he will bring with him to the fight and what if he decides not to face you but merely put us under siege and starve us to death."

"We'll have to take the attackers as they come," Harry replied, "but that's also why I want them to only have a small path to attack us. As for him not attacking, I don't see that happening. Once he knows I'm here, his ego won't let him wait too long. If I must, I can also taunt him to help that along. In addition, we have some of the children of the Death Eaters, so their parents will urge him to attack or perhaps the parents will attack on their own. I'd actually like them to attack on their own because that would mean I can reduce their numbers a little at a time."

"What do you plan to do to the attackers?" Sprout asked. "Do you plan to … kill them?"

Harry knew he wouldn't win points with his answer, but he had strong feelings about this. "If they come at us in peace, then we'll talk. They will also have to show that they don't have the Dark Mark. However, if they have the Dark Mark or they come with Voldemort during the big attack, I won't have mercy. You have to have done terrible things to earn the Dark Mark and those are not people we want in our society and especially not running it."

"But to kill them," Sprout protested again.

"What would you have me do?" Harry asked sincerely. "I'm not a pacifist, Professor; I'm in a war, a war I didn't declare. I also don't want them escaping true justice with bribes. "

Sprout didn't reply, nor did the other two.

"I understand what you're asking," Harry continued quietly as they reached the halfway point and the edge of the lake came into their limited view. "My harsh stance is for three reasons. First, they could have talked to work out differences, but instead they are coming at us by force with spells. Sadly, we must respond in kind or be killed.

"Second, they keep coming back. Carrow is just the latest example. He attacked us last June and was put in prison. However, he was let go and was even put in charge of the school.

"Lastly, we could send them to Azkaban, but it would be for the rest of their life and that seems cruel to me from what I know of it. Since that is a death sentence anyway, we might as well just help them along a little sooner and give everyone peace of mind that they won't escape."

"I'm not sure I agree," Sprout said quietly, "but I can understand those reasons and I find it hard to refute them."

"I agree with Mr Potter," Flitwick stated. "My time on the dueling circuit showed me that some just go bad and they don't want to turn back. Those adults that attack us don't want to be saved."

"What if they're just coming for their children?" McGonagall asked.

"Except for the five that are awaiting a trial, we'll reunite individual parents and children," Harry answered. "But I don't believe it will be a question we will have to deal with. No, we'll be attacked by a mob with horrid curses; they will try to kill us and I'll respond in kind. Then when it's all over, I hope I can settle down, have a quiet life, and raise a family."

"You still don't wish to be an Auror?" McGonagall asked.

"No, Professor. Susan would like me to avoid that kind of excitement. I believe she understands that I must do my part to end the war, but after that … well, we'd both prefer less excitement," Harry told them quietly.

No one said anything else as they finished their slow walk to the gates, each contemplating what was about to come their way.

It didn't take long before there were multiple pops on the other side of the gate. With a wave of her wand, McGonagall turned on the lights installed on the gate posts. The lights showed a small crowd, led by Vince and Patricia Bones. "Merciful Merlin, this must be half of St Mungo's," she muttered.

McGonagall opened the gates and the group slowly walked forward. All were carrying or levitating trunks, except for a few that were levitating a pair of stretchers.

"Harry," Vince greeted him warmly. "I hope it wasn't a problem that we sent Winky, but we were getting worried when we hadn't heard from you." Pat gave him a hug before turning to help someone; Winky was walking beside her and levitating a trunk.

"It's not a problem," Harry assured them. "Everything was under control; we were working on our plan to secure the castle." He looked over the crowd that was mostly through the gates now. "Can you vouch for everyone here and everything they've brought?"

"Yes I can." Vince pointed to the pair of stretchers. "That's the Longbottoms. I couldn't leave them there in good conscience once I considered what we were doing."

"Good idea," Harry said as he realized this was yet another thing he hadn't thought of. "What of the others like them?"

"None of the others are connected with those here, so they should be fine." Vince looked pleased as the last were on the school grounds and McGonagall closed and relocked the gates before extinguishing the post lights, causing a few people to light their wands so those around them could see the path. Flitwick and Sprout led the way with their wands lit.

"The hospital will be rather short-staffed," Vince continued, "but they should make it, especially as more people come here so there will be less need there." As they took the rear position of the procession, he asked, "How's Susan taking all of this?"

"She's pleased with the results, but not very pleased with me for putting myself in danger, again," Harry answered.

Vince chuckled and slapped Harry on the back lightly. "You have my sympathy, but I'm not surprised. What do you plan to do about it?"

"I told her we'd talk tomorrow morning and I'd answer all of her questions. I can't think of anything else to do."

"Other than be completely honest," Vince added, "that's all you can do … well, other than not getting yourself hurt."

"I definitely don't have any plans for that," Harry quipped, drawing a chuckle from his future father-in-law.

"What happened to your hand?"

Harry held it up. "I scraped it when I had to dive away from a spell."

"Let me see it," Vince stopped Harry and looked at it with the light from Harry's wand after the bandage had been vanished. "It's superficial. Hold still please." He waved his wand over the scabbed area and a moment later the scab was gone and replaced with new skin.

Harry flexed his hand. "A little tender, but otherwise as good as new. Thanks!"

"My pleasure and I hope that's the worst we all see," Vince told him as they resumed their walk.

"I hope so too," Harry said fervently.

— — —

Inside, McGonagall sent the medical group to an unused wing, where they settled into rooms, conjuring cots or mattresses as needed to hold them for the night until they could do something more permanent tomorrow.

With that taken care of, Harry followed Dobby to the room for the Head Boy, becoming more and more aware of how tired he was with each step.

He found that he and Hannah shared a suite. They had a common room which looked like a living room in a house. There were two other doors; each had a name on it. Heading into his room, he closed and locked the door before heading to the other door in the room. The bathroom was small but it had everything he needed.

After taking care of his needs there, he undressed and walked into the bedroom in just his boxers. It wasn't until he dropped his clothes on a chair and looked at his bed that he realized he wasn't alone. He almost groaned, but managed to contain that and probably saved himself from more cross words. "Susan?"

"I told you we needed to talk," she said a little pointedly, making him glad he had not groaned out loud.

"Susan, we can tomorrow, I promise; but I'm really tired and my shoulder hurts." As that moment of honesty escaped him, he realized he shouldn't' have said that, or at least not right then.

She jumped up out of bed, which Harry couldn't help but watch her in her overly long T-shirt, and hurried over to him.

Realizing he was going to have to explain this, Harry pointed to his left shoulder. "I got hit with a Cruciatus Curse for about one or two seconds. It's really not a big deal as I've had a lot worse. It should be normal by tomorrow morning."

Susan looked at his shoulder carefully, the front and the back, before she seemed to be satisfied. "If it's not, you're going to Madam Pomfrey first thing in the morning. Now go get in bed," she ordered as she turned back to get her wand so she could turn out the light.

Harry decided to just go with it for the moment and crawled into bed. The lights went out and Susan crawled in after him a moment later. He did have to admit that it was nice when she snuggled up to him and laid her head on his shoulder as well as draped an arm over him.

"Tell me everything that happened tonight," she told him, almost demandingly.

Lying there, Harry considered his response carefully. "Susan, I'll happily tell you anything you want to know, but can we please wait until tomorrow morning? I'm very, very tired right now and I can barely stay awake. Also, we both have so much to do tomorrow we need all the rest we can get."

It was a long moment before he heard, "Very well, but first thing in the morning."

"Yes dear," he mumbled before adding, "and your parents are here."

When she didn't say anything, Harry fell asleep very quickly, never knowing Susan was silent because she was struggling with the situation of her parents finding out she was sleeping with her boyfriend tonight. Sure, she had done so at her home when he'd burned his hands, but she was certain her parents would see this differently as neither of them was injured.

* * *

Harry was woken by a sharp rap on his door. At first he didn't want to move because he was warm, but he realized after a moment that not answering the door wasn't really an option. Trying not to disturb the covers and his bed partner too much, he got up and found his dressing gown on a chair, next to stacks of clean clothes. As he donned the clothing, he made a mental note to thank Dobby for the laundry service later.

Opening the door, but not too much so the view to the bed was blocked, he was a little surprised to see the Headmistress there. "Professor, is something wrong?" he asked sleepily. He wasn't sure what time it was, but there wasn't much light coming in his outside window.

"Our first guests will be arriving soon and as head of security you should be there," she told him.

He blinked for a moment. "Uh, right, right you are. If you'll give me a few minutes, I'll join you."

"Come find us in the Great Hall. There is an early breakfast available," she said before she turned and left.

Harry closed the door and lean against it, thankful she hadn't asked to come in. Looking over, he saw a head come out slowly from under the covers. Despite messy hair, he thought she was really cute like that. "That was close." He walked over and grabbed a set of clean clothes for himself. "I'll give you a few minutes and dress in the bathroom. I think Dobby took care of your clothes." He pointed to the stack before he left the room.

When he came out, Susan was dressed and brushing her hair. He pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and laid it on the bed. "You can use that to get back to your room. Then call Dobby and have him bring it to me please."

Susan smiled at him and gave him a peck on the lips. "Thanks, Harry. I'll see you at breakfast."

"Maybe, if you're still there. I'll probably be very busy this morning," he explained a little guiltily as he moved slowly towards the door. He really had thought he'd have more time with her this morning.

It seemed she hadn't forgotten either because she growled, "Harry! You promised you'd tell me."

"I know but…" The vexed and angry look on her face convinced him that he had to tell her something, perhaps for his own safety. "OK, the very short version is that Carrow surprised me and hit me with a Cruiatus for a second or two and I responded by blasting him to the wall. Once I had him in control, I made him tell me a few things, like who the Death Eaters were, called them out in small groups, and took care of them. The rest from last night is pretty obvious since you saw it.

"As for today and tomorrow, we bring our families here and get the castle ready for defense. Then when Voldemort comes, I and a few others take him down - permanently. I'll give you details later, but that's the quick version."

Susan threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. "Stay safe, Harry, and thank you for telling me. I love you."

"I love you too," he responded before he left to start his day.

— — —

With her hair now in control, Susan donned the Invisibility Cloak and left the Head Boy rooms while noting that a few noises were coming out of Hannah's room indicating she was up. She hurried through the corridors and arrived at the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room at the same time as Professor Sprout.

Taking great care not to make a sound, she hurried in after her Professor and was grateful when Sprout stopped for a moment to look at someone sleeping on a couch. Susan took a quick but quiet trip to her dorm room.

Inside, she closed the door and was relieved her dorm mates were still asleep. To continue the ruse, she messed up her bed to make it look like it had been slept in before she grabbed her gown and a different set of clothes and hurried into the bathroom.

Susan had barely undressed when she heard a noise from her room. Wrapping her gown around her, she looked out and saw Sprout in the doorway and beckoning her out. Joining her in the corridor to all of the girl's dorm rooms, she asked, "Is something wrong, Professor?"

"I was looking for you to give you this if you're willing to take the position and duties." Sprout held out a Prefect badge.

Susan looked at the badge in surprise, never really expecting to become a Prefect; Hannah had always been the better student. She could see some definitely positives from having it, especially in regards to being around Harry more. "Thank you, Professor," she said seriously as she reached out and took the badge.

"I'm sure Miss Abbott can help you with questions you may have." Sprout hesitated for a moment before she added, "I'm aware that last night was very unusual with the change in staffing, but I'd suggest that you be a little more aware of curfew if you'd like to keep that badge."

It was all Susan could do not to look down or otherwise give herself away. "Of course, Professor."

Sprout smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder before leaving.

Susan went back inside her room and about wilted with relief at avoiding trouble as she wondered how Sprout knew she hadn't been here last night.

— — —

Harry grabbed some toast as well as some bacon before following the new Headmistress out the front door when requested. "Why are we heading to the gates so early? It's only half past six and Travers shouldn't be here until eight."

"There are a few people who will be joining us early so they can help with the families that will be coming," she said a little cryptically.

"Oh? Who?" he asked.

"Those who are left of the Order of the Phoenix." She looked at him. "You didn't mention them, but I thought they should be protected and I'd like their help to protect the school."

Harry was chagrinned to find another detail he hadn't considered. "More allies never hurt. I'm surprised you were able to get them here so quickly."

"I've spent a good bit of the night contacting them as well as making various arrangements here. A few of them were difficult to find," she commented.

He gave her a good look. "You don't look like you've been up all night."

McGonagall chuckled. "Surely you haven't forgotten your second year potions, Mr Potter?"

"Oh," he said sheepishly after a moment. "You took a Pepperup Potion."

"Most of us did, but I can assure you that I'm looking forward to sleeping tonight. Speaking of sleeping," she gave him a critical look, "there is a rumor among a few of us on staff that Miss Bones was out after curfew."

"Oh?" Harry forced himself to maintain a neutral expression as he decided to admit nothing.

"If you want to keep that Head Boy badge, Mr Potter, I would suggest that you make sure I never find that rumor to be true." She fixed him with her patented commanding look.

"Of course, Professor, I'll pass the message along to Susan as well," he told her, knowing he couldn't really argue otherwise.

McGonagall looked at him for a moment more before nodding. "I have the Floo Network to the school blocked, which should force Travers to come to the front gate. I hope that is where you had planned to confront him?"

"Yes," he replied, grateful for the change of topic. "I thought the gate could be left unlocked so he could come in and then we could capture him as he walked to the school. It shouldn't be hard to hide so he can't see us."

"Not at all," she agreed as they approached the front gate.

Flitwick was already there and looking around. He seemed to be trying to think something through while he took very measured steps between various points for some reason.

"Professor," Harry addressed Flitwick, "may I ask what you're doing?" He realized that might be taken rudely, so he hurriedly tacked on, "I'm just curious as it's not immediately obvious."

"No offense taken, Mr Potter," Flitwick returned. "Since we're planning on the final attack happening in this area, I'm considering some defenses we could put in place. It's all very interesting in its own way, although it would be much more enjoyable if our lives didn't depend on it."

"I definitely agree with that," Harry told him. "Perhaps we can share ideas later today?"

"Of course, Mr Potter; I would look forward to that." Flitwick looked up as several people appeared just outside the gates, and then more continued to appear. "I presume this is Albus's famous Order?"

"Yes, I recognize most of them," Harry answered before looking down at the man beside him. "If I may ask, why aren't you in it? I would have thought you would be."

Flitwick smiled at him. "I was asked, but joining would have broken my neutrality. However, as things stand now, I don't believe neutrality means much anymore, so I have finally chosen sides."

Sprout joined them and helped interview the Order members who'd arrived to make sure they who they said they really were. They were joined by Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Bill and Fleur Weasley, plus another handful more Harry didn't recognize.

After the interviews, all were sent to the castle except for Mad-Eye Moody. He voluntarily donned his own Invisibility Cloak and waited outside the gates for their next visitor.

— — —

A few minutes after eight, a man Apparated to the front gates that were standing slightly open. Harry stood nearby under his recently returned Invisibility Cloak and listened to the man mutter about having to walk to the castle rather than arrive via the Floo.

Harry let him walk a few steps past him before he stunned him and watched him drop.

McGonagall came out from behind a tree while Mad-Eye walked in and took his special cloak off. "Good job, lad."

"What did you have planned next?" McGonagall asked.

"I'll borrow Hagrid's place to ask some questions to see what he knows. I'll be back before the parents arrive," Harry told her while levitating the man.

"Mind if I join you?" Mad-Eye asked.

"No, come along if you want, although it might not be a fun time."

"And after your questions?" McGonagall continued, ignoring his commentary.

"He'll join his friends so he can't come back and bother us again," Harry replied as he walked off with a grinning Mad-Eye following.

"I like your ideas, lad." Moody gave him a ugly grin as he starting walking towards Hagrid's place.

McGonagall didn't look as pleased, but she didn't try to stop either of them.

— — —

At nine, Harry and Mad-Eye returned to the front gates to find a line starting to form. He wasn't too surprised to find most people had multiple trunks stacked. One family had a horse pulling a small cart of things heaped, causing him to suspect they lived nearby. It looked like two families had brought livestock, a few goats and sheep for one family and a few cows for the other family.

In addition to about half of the professors and the Order interviewing people to make sure they were who they said they were, Vince had a few of his people available to make sure no one was under the Imperius Curse. Since it was running well without him, Harry just stood back and watched over it all; playing security to be available if there was any trouble.

A few minutes later his friends walked up. "Hey," his girlfriend greeted him for the group before she put an arm around his waist. "How's it going?"

"So far so good, but it's just started." Harry pointed to the side. "Can you believe some people brought animals?"

"If you have them and can transport them, it's the easiest way to have keep meat fresh," Neville pointed out. "I'd guess they probably live near here though."

"I talked to Mum a few minutes ago and she said they brought their chickens for the eggs," Ginny commented. "They put them in a big crate and then Portkeyed that here. Professor McGonagall helped with that late last night she said."

"What did you find out from the last Death Eater?" Susan asked.

"Nothing of any real significance that we didn't already know. According to him, no one knows we've taken over Hogwarts yet, but I'll bet that won't last too long," he pointed to the animals again, "especially with that happening."

"It might not be so bad," Hannah said. "I suppose it really depends on how many people do it. If it's just those two, then no one else might know." Neville nodded his agreement.

Harry watched his Transfiguration teacher cast a spell at each of the cows, checking for an Animagus he assumed.

As the family with the cows had been vetted first, Professor McGonagall called out, "Miss Weasley!" Ginny hurried down. A moment later she was leading the family towards the castle.

"I have to show them to the pens," Ginny called out as she walked by. "Someone else needs to go down for the next group."

"I'll go," Luna said as she walked down towards the family with the sheep and goats.

Harry watched over it all and smiled as people were coming together.

Just before the last of the families were in, Harry walked over to Tonks. He really didn't want to do this, but she really was the best choice. After a short conversation, Tonks slipped back out the gates and Apparated away. Harry walked back to the castle with the others feeling a little guilty; her agreement with his idea didn't help.

* * *

"My lord!" one of the few new Death Eaters said reverently as he knelt.

Voldemort looked at him for a moment, trying to recall the man's name and failing. Deciding it didn't really matter, he said, "Rise and report."

"A cousin told me there was a small stream of people going through Hogsmeade towards Hogwarts. I looked and it's true. There is a small crowd of people at the gates with some of the professors and others talking to them before letting them in."

"They are entering the school grounds?" Voldemort asked.

"Yes, my lord."

"Interesting. Were you seen?" He employed passive Legilimency.

"I don't believe so. I disillusioned myself and hid behind greenery. No one reacted to my presence."

His statement came across as true, so the Dark Wizard nodded. "Very good; excellent work. Carry on." He waved the man away, who rose and left the room.

Voldemort considered the situation. Rooting them out of Hogwarts would be harder, but not insurmountable. The question was when was the proper time? He decided he didn't have to figure that out now; he had time and more important things to do first, like recruiting more help. That had been harder over the last few months with so many deaths on his side.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks again to Kokopelli for beta'ing this story. Don't forget, I can edit the story after he sees it, so any remaining errors should be attributed to me and not him; he does great work.)


	19. As Things Should Be

**Chapter 19 - As Things Should Be**

Four days later, Harry sat down to breakfast. The Great Hall was actually crowded now, so much so that not everyone could eat at once. Amusingly to him, Dobby reported that all of the house elves in the castle were very happy to have so many people to help.

When the Daily Prophet arrived, Harry took a moment to look at the front page of the one in Hermione's hand. The headline of "POTTER'S CHALLENGE" was all he needed to see.

A short moment later, Hermione gasped and looked at him in fear. "Did you really send the newspaper a letter and call _Him_ a coward?"

"Yep," Harry answered causally. Only Susan didn't look surprised and that was because he knew he had to tell her first.

"I don't understand, why did you do it?" Neville asked, not angrily but curiously.

As Harry was about to answer, he realized the normal volume of voices was dropping rapidly and almost everyone was looking at him. He supposed he was only a little surprised by this, as he'd have thought his ploy was obvious, but perhaps not.

Rising from his seat, Harry addressed the crowd and answered Neville's question. "I'm sure most of you have seen the headlines and maybe even read part of my letter to it…"

"Why did you do it?" one man yelled. "This is going to make him attack us!"

"That's the point!" Harry shouted back, shocking the objector into silence. "I thought it was bleedingly obvious that by all of us coming here that Voldemort would attack us eventually." Many looked uncomfortable at hearing _that name_ , making Harry roll his eyes. "I don't know about you, but I'd prefer he do that soon so I don't have to keep waiting and so we don't run out of food. I'm ready for him so there's no real reason to wait."

"But…" someone started to object.

"Listen, I invited all of you here to be safe and I meant that. The main reason is that I didn't want you to be used as hostages against your children, so you are all here. Also, I don't expect you to go out and fight. I and a few others will do that. You can stay safe in the castle with your children. So stay here and be a family. If you can teach others about practical magic and how the wizarding world works, then please do so. You don't have to worry about defense of the castle because we have a very good plan for that."

Harry sat back down and continued his breakfast. The talking slowly started up again around the large room.

"You really don't need us?" Neville asked.

"I don't want any of you on the front lines because I don't want you hurt, not because I don't think you can do it," Harry replied. "If the worst should happen and I fail, then you lot are responsible for protecting the other students from whatever is left over. Of course," he glanced at Susan as they'd already had a loud conversation about him placing himself in danger, "I don't believe I'll fail."

— — —

As dinner came, Harry sat with Susan and her friends at the Hufflepuff table. The elves had grilled the chicken and he found it quite tasty.

"Harry?" Megan Jones called to him.

When he looked at her, she said, "I heard from Professor Babbling that you're still taking our accelerated Runes class for OWLs, plus you're also taking sixth _and_ seventh year Runes. Is that true?"

He noticed the looks he was getting from those around him, mostly expressions of astonishment. "Sort of; I am still taking our class so I can take my OWLs, so that's true. I did get Professor Babbling to let me sit in the sixth and seventh years classes so I could see the material, but I don't have to do any of the homework or take any of the exams, although I probably will just to see how well I'm doing."

By Megan's look, he was glad Ron wasn't hearing the news as he was sure his friend would proclaim Harry daft and probably very vocally.

"Seriously?" Megan almost squeaked.

"Yeah, I really am. Mostly I'm just doing the reading and listening in class, so it's not all that much extra work and I find it interesting," he explained.

Susan chuckled when Megan looked at her. "He really is serious and he seems to be good at Runes, so I can sort of understand, at least a little."

"I'm not sure I understand, but whatever," Megan responded.

As Harry was about to reach for dessert, a ghost of a wolf ran into the Great Hall and jumped into Harry, who sat very still for a moment.

"What?" Susan asked, fear edging into her voice as Harry listened to the private message.

Harry grabbed her hand and looked at her for a moment, doing his best to ensure he had memorized her face. Turning to the head of the room, he saw McGonagall and Flitwick looking at him. He gave them a nod before standing.

Susan jumped to her feet and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Harry…"

Despite her having trouble saying what she felt, Harry understood her message anyway, having talked about what he was planning to do. "I'll do my very best to come back to you. Please stay in the castle so I don't have to worry about you."

Harry felt two more sets of arms go around him. Looking around, he saw Vince and Pat joining the hug. "Thanks," he said quietly.

They all let go, Susan the most reluctantly. It wasn't until he was walking away from her that he realized the entire room had gone silent. As he neared the end of the tables, he heard a single voice start the chant of "Har-ry! Har-ry!"

He had to smile as the volume grew with Ron leading everyone else; he really should have been a Hufflepuff, Harry thought.

At the doorway, he stopped and turned to face the room; McGonagall and Flitwick caught up with him and stood next to him. As the chant died down, Harry raised his voice. "Stay in the castle and stay safe. Hopefully, the war will be over soon."

"Professor Sprout is in charge while we're gone," the Headmistress said before the three turned and left.

In the Entrance Hall, they found Mad-Eye Moody and Remus Lupin. "Showtime?" the old Auror asked.

"It is," Harry said solemnly. "If I should fail, work with Sprout to take care of any who remain. Guarding the front doors is your responsibility."

"Aye," Moody said. "Potter, don't forget that this is war. Anything goes; don't hold back."

"I've never held back when fighting the Death Eaters and I'm not starting now. If you'll excuse us, company is coming soon and we need to welcome them properly," he said with slight smirk.

"Good hunting, lad!"

"Be safe, Harry," Lupin told him.

"As safe as I can be and still get the job done," Harry told him as he led the three out.

The main doors were sealed after them with a wave of McGonagall's wand. "The alarm on the main wards just sent off. What do we have waiting for us?"

"According to Tonk's message, only about a dozen Aurors."

"That's all?" Flitwick asked in surprise.

"That's all she knows about for sure from the Ministry. She also said rumor has it that the Dementors have been moved, McNair was out visiting the giants, and then there are the unknown number of Death Eaters." Harry looked at the two professors - each wore grim expressions. "I truly appreciate your help, but you don't have to stay if things go badly."

"But we will," McGonagall told him resolutely.

"Yes we will," Flitwick agreed.

Harry was serious they didn't have to, but he was also greatly relieved they weren't backing out. "Any last minute questions?"

Flitwick said stoically, "None that you can answer, Mr Potter. Don't you forget that no plan really survives first contact with the enemy."

"True, but I really don't have much to do other than to kill anyone or anything that comes at us," Harry replied. "I'm more worried about you two, especially you, Professor Flitwick. I really need to you be able to help me at the end since you said that you'll be closer."

"I'll be there, and if not, Professor McGonagall can do the task as well as I can," Flitwick told him as they came around the final bend and could see the gates in the distance, gates that were already under attack.

"Everyone be safe," Harry told them as he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and put it on. Beside him, both professors faded from sight with the help of Disillusionment charms; in the current minimal light and later in the darkness, they would be completely invisible.

Harry walked to a set of large trees, which he'd prepared for use as shields. He knew McGonagall was to his left behind some large rocks, ready to keep the group from spreading out and to harass the attackers. Flitwick was on his right, responsible for slowing the attackers down as well as taking out any that he could while not being seen. That would mostly be done via traps that were in place that the little professor would spring. From their planning sessions, Harry was sure that Flitwick had more traps than they'd originally planned.

Best as he could see in the fading daylight, there were nearly fifty wizards with black cloaks and masks, not as many as Harry had feared and he hoped that his work of reducing their numbers during the attack at Hogwarts when Dumbledore had died and during the summer at the Bones' house had kept that number lower than it otherwise would have been. There were also nearly a dozen men dressed very shabbily, about half with clubs and half with wands - werewolves he assumed. There were no sign of Dementors, but the two giants couldn't be missed. 'Damn!' he thought.

Looking a little harder, he noticed three more wizards around one of the gate posts casting spells: most likely the Curse Breakers. The five masked wizards standing behind them with wands out indicated that the Curse Breakers were probably not there of their own free will. Perhaps they'd escape; if not, well, there wasn't much he could do to save them. If they stayed outside and didn't come in, he'd let them go; if they came in, he'd treat them like every other combatant.

It took a moment, but he finally found who he was looking for. He was the only one without a mask and he was standing at the back of the attacking group - figures. Harry could kill that body right now, but Harry was also quite certain that was not the best plan. His plan called for leaving Voldemort for last and being alive at the end. Getting rid of the Death Eaters would help clean up society.

Nearly ten minutes later, the wards protecting the main gate finally came down. They had never been meant to keep the attackers out, merely delay the group until Harry and company could get into position.

Looking out from behind a tree, Harry saw a sudden flare and then a ring of light start to expand quickly. He pulled his head back so it was behind the tree and let the magic pass. He hoped the others had done the same. Waiting nearly half a minute more in case another Human Revealing was done, Harry finally stuck his head back out and saw that almost the entire group was inside the gates.

It was at that moment that the first unexpected event happened. From out of the trees came a swarm of Dementors rushing at the gate. Not wishing to show his hand just yet, he withheld action and hoped McGonagall responded quickly.

— — —

Moody and Lupin were the only two outside of the castle, having flown down from the Astronomy Tower after the main doors had been sealed. They were at the last bend in the road behind a transfigured rock they had raised out of the ground. The two men ducked behind the rock, although Moody's special eye tracked the magic. As the Human Revealing spell passed overhead, he said, "I hope Potter really does know what he's doing because we're not going to be able to help from here."

Lupin growled at the obvious, frustrated he couldn't come up with an idea to help either.

— — —

McGonagall watched from around the large rock she was behind. As the wave of magic went by her, she eased her head out from behind the rock on the other side. You-Know-Who entered the gateway and stopped, preventing her from closing the gates because he had to be on the inside for them to have a good chance of ending this.

A rush from hitherto unknown Dementors startled her, but she had to hold her hand no matter how frustrating it was. She had counted eight Dementors inside before _He_ turned and walked in. The second she could, she triggered the ward to slam the gates shut and then lock with wards that would take _Him_ many minutes to take down thanks to some special ward work by Babbling and Potter. She had no idea why Babbling was spun up like a schoolgirl going to her first dance in regard to these wards, but she'd never seen her friend this excited, all because of some power runes Potter had come up with.

The gates slamming had kept the remaining thirty or forty Dementors out. Not being able to come in made them swarm over the Curse Breakers who'd remained outside. There was nothing to be done for them, she knew.

That part of the plan in place, she triggered the gate lights to come on before she reached for a Mokeskin bag that she'd been carrying around everywhere she went for the last few days. Opening it up, she pulled out the first handful of shrunken toy animals she had created. As the toys grew to full sized animals and came to life, she smiled as they ran off in the direction she commanded.

— — —

Flitwick had slid into his illusion covered pre-made hole and then ran through the tunnel, glad he was as short as he was. At the other end, he clamored up the stone steps, pleased he'd remembered the ways of his ancestors. Poking his Disillusioned head through a hole and into an illusion of a very prickly shrub. All was as it should be and he waited, still trying to decide what order to spring the traps in.

When the Human Revealing spell was cast, he dropped back down in his hole and waited for a moment. When it seemed safe, he rose back up to see what was going on and almost squeaked to give away his position as a foot from one of the giants almost stepped on him, just missing the illusionary shrub.

Dropping back down, he waited for a moment again. As he was about to rise again, he felt the Dementors and had to descend his steps back into the tunnel as casting a Patronus would have given his position away. He mentally cursed for being momentarily taken out of the fight.

— — —

As the gates slammed shut, causing Voldemort to whip around and look at them, Harry struck. An air-spear went into an eye of a giant, causing it to step backwards as it cried in pain. Three Death Eaters were following that giant a little too closely and were kicked. One ended up being crushed by the giant stepping on him, but the other two flew into the small group of Dementors that had made it inside. Unbeknownst to Harry and luckily for him, the one trampled was McNair - the one who was supposed to be directing the giants.

That gave Harry an idea. He used very controlled gusts of air to hit a few other Death Eaters and cause them to fly into the arms of the Dementors. Harry was pleased by the extra chaos; no one knew how this was happening because his air weapons were practically invisible in the fading sunlight and the dim gate lights.

Meanwhile the second giant was watching the first hold his face and shout in his guttural way about being hurt; not knowing what to do and not finding the wizard who was supposed to help him, the second giant just stood there.

One of the Death Eaters tried to cast a spell at a Dementor to defend himself and Harry saw the spell being cast. Nudging the Death Eater's arm with a block of air, the spell was sent not at a Dementor but at the second, uninjured giant. To Harry's good fortune, it has been a Fireball curse. That enraged the giant and caused him to go after the wizard - through the group of werewolves. The werewolves fared no better than the Death Eaters, trampled and kicked through the air without discrimination. With "food" being thrown at them, the Dementors that were inside and had been promised souls started a feeding frenzy.

Chaos increased as multiple wild animals slammed into the group, mauling anyone they could. The group as a whole only survived thanks to quick wand work from a few wizards in the back. Harry still couldn't do a thing about Voldemort yet, despite that he was the one killing most of the animals, but Harry sent an air-spear at a tall Death Eater near Riddle. The wizard lost his mask as his magic ended, showing the world that Lucius Malfoy was no more. The next air-spear hit a "wizard" who gave a very brief high-pitched scream, causing Voldemort to look at her as her mask fell off. Harry felt no remorse, only a small flare of satisfaction with killing Bellatrix Lastrange.

"Forward!" roared Voldemort, trying to save his group.

A few Death Eaters tried to run away when most of them suddenly started to sink to their knees. Harry knew that was Flitwick's doing, although he wondered why the man had taken so long to do that. With most of the group thoroughly slowed down, Harry concentrated on those not in the shallow swamp, sending air-spears at each of them, taking them out as fast as he could.

The Death Eaters responded by casting curses in random directions, not being able to tell where their adversaries were. None of the spells even came close to Harry's team.

Sudden screaming from multiple men grabbed everyone's attention. Harry just grinned as he watched a dozen alligators take to the swamp and start biting; he also mentally vowed to never piss off Minerva McGonagall.

The rampaging giants were blasted with two hexes and fell, crushing several werewolves in their fall. The swamp also started to reverse itself, all thanks to Voldemort.

As the land became dry again, the dozen or so remaining followers suddenly started to howl and dance, thanks to another of Flitwick's surprises - very aggressive fire ants. Harry knew the man was a little hampered as he had to remain unseen until the end, but even these little things helped to keep the attacking group in place and not really advancing.

Voldemort was waving his wand around and doing his best to do something that made a difference in what was blindingly obvious a trap. "Come out Potter and face me like your father!"

Harry replied by shooting air-arrows at the followers as fast as he could. By the time it was down to only four Death Eaters who could stand and another pack of animals arrived on the scene, Harry knew it was time.

Shooting his air-shotgun, Harry sent many little balls of air at Voldemort's legs. The first few hit and knocked the Dark Lord back stumbling and then limping. Further balls were deflected off of some shield Harry couldn't see. He switched to air-arrows and then air-spears. Neither worked as they bounced away, but it also kept the Dark Wizard occupied in saving himself; his follows were all now on the ground thanks to McGonagall's work.

His next move was to start the air swirling in several miniature tornados to pick up objects from small rocks to sticks to bodies and throw them at the Dark Lord. All items continued to bounce off whatever shield the man had, although they did drive him around a bit, staggering with each step on injured legs.

Another wave of magic from another Human Revealing spell pulsed out as Voldemort searched for him again.

Harry easily stepped behind the tree again as he considered how to end this. As he stepped back out, a second wave from yet another a Revealing spell hit him and he pulsed red. A Killing Curse came his way but missed him by a meter because the whirlwinds prevented proper aiming.

Frustrated he had been found and that Voldemort still was standing, Harry decided combine all of the little whirlwinds and sucked Voldemort into the middle. Voldemort may have found him, but Harry could make sure the wizard couldn't aim as he spun around, allowing Harry to walk towards another tree to be in a different sheltered spot. Harry had no idea how fast the tornado was turning with Voldemort spinning in the middle, but he held the winds for a couple of minutes until he forced the winds to suddenly stop.

Surprisingly, a cut and bloody Voldemort was still conscious, but he only took one step sideways before he fell over straight on his back, his powerful shield now gone. Harry caused a thick blanket of air to cover the wizard and then harden so all but the head was covered. He even made it force the air out of the man so he couldn't breathe.

"Now, Flitwick!" Harry yelled. A second later, a pale beam shot low to the ground. As it hit its mark, the body started to turn a bluish-gray. When the entire body, robes and all, were the same new color. Harry walked out from behind his cover and advanced.

Halfway down, Harry realized the small group of Dementors who had entered were all huddled against the gate. He thought of Susan and cast his Patronus. The stag herded the foul creatures away and towards the Forbidden Forest; they could be taken care of later.

As Harry approached the body, he took off his Invisibility Cloak and saw Flitwick rise up through a bush not too far away and then walk over. The two looked at the now solid rock version of the Dark Lord. "He's not so scary now."

McGonagall joined them a few seconds later. "I would agree, Mr Potter." She gave him a curious look. "I believe I can now understand why you wanted few witnesses to this and our agreement to keep silent on how you did this. You're an Air Elemental?"

"Not according to the books I've read, but I suppose that doesn't matter as your description is how people would see me and I'd really prefer not to be known that way." He looked at each of them and received an understanding nod.

"Professor McGonagall, if you don't mind, I'll leave it up to you to bring Moody, Shacklebolt, and any other Ministry employees down here to clean up this mess. I don't think you'll find many survivors to put on trial, but one never knows. Personally, I think I'd prefer it if they all died from their injuries to cleanse society from their 'Blood Purity' views, but I'll leave that up to you and them."

"I'll take care of it, Mr Potter," she told him, looking pleased at his decision.

"Also, if you'd open the gates please?" Harry turned to the other professor. "Professor Flitwick, if you'll join me for a short trip, I'd appreciate your company." Harry shrank the statue down until it was doll sized and picked it up. "This needs to go on a very special one-way trip."

"I believe I understand and I'd be delighted to accompany you," Flitwick told him with a beaming smile.

Knowing he really had to do one more thing before he left, Harry sent his Patronus racing for the castle before he said "Meet me at the Apparation Point in the Ministry of Magic." He put his Cloak back on as he walked out the gates before leaving with a slight crack, followed closely by Flitwick who'd Disillusioned himself again.

— — —

Moody and Lupin walked up just as the two disappeared. "What the hell was all that?"

McGonagall spun with her wand pointed at the two she didn't know were there and only lowered her wand when she recognized them. "Did you see any of that?"

"Aye," Moody answered as he looked around. "I'm impressed and thankful for what he did, but how did he do that?" Lupin looked to be in full agreement of that question.

"I'm afraid you're going to have keep that to yourself, or else be Oblivated," she told them, her wand now pointing at Moody since he had his wand out and Lupin didn't.

"Minerva…"

"Sorry," she told him. "Harry made us give an Unbreakable Vow and I know he'll require it of you two as well now that you know."

"He's an Air Elemental, isn't he?" Lupin asked.

"The label doesn't matter," she answered. "He protected us all and I think he deserves to be protected in turn."

"Aye," Moody agreed as he slowly put his wand away, "I can understand that. I wished a few others had protected me better years ago. I'll take the Vow and keep my memories."

Lupin agreed and between the three of them, the other two completed their Vows as a small crowd from the castle came running down the path, led by a teenaged girl with strawberry-blonde hair.

— — —

As they popped into the Atrium at the Ministry, Flitwick whispered, "Let me take care of him."

Harry walked very slowly and quietly. By the time he was halfway to the guard, the guard suddenly slumped over.

A few seconds later, Flitwick whispered, "The alarm is off. To the elevators I assume?"

"Correct," Harry answered in kind and started walking his normal pace through the atrium of the Ministry that was half lit.

The call button seemed to push itself. A moment later, the two were inside and the "10" button lit.

"It appears you've guessed as to what I'm doing," Harry said quietly. He realized it would have looked like the elevator was talking to itself and found that amusing.

"After you'd given me your clues, it wasn't too hard. It's rather ingenious actually," Flitwick answered.

"Have you been down here before?"

"A few times for consultation with the Research Unspeakables." Flitwick paused. "Just the once for you?"

"Yes."

"I'll handle the spinning room then," Flitwick volunteered. "I'm very pleased and a little surprised the fight went as well as it did."

"We had surprise and complete control of the battleground." Harry shrugged. "I think he was stupid for fighting me like that, but as I said before … his ego forces him to do stupid things."

"Perhaps his time without a body did something to make him mentally unstable?" the professor suggested.

"It's as good of an explanation as any I can come up with," Harry replied.

A few minutes later they were standing in front of the Veil of Death. Harry could hear the voices a little more plainly than last time, but he still couldn't quite make out what they were saying, not that it really mattered he supposed. As he pulled out the little statue, he stopped for a moment, smiling as he had an idea.

"Professor, would you do me a small favor and throw this through the archway?" Harry held out the statue.

"Me?" Flitwick returned in surprise. "I thought you'd want to do it, Mr Potter. He did kill your parents."

"I know it's odd that I'd ask, but it would mean something to me, sort of on the level of a joke. That's probably not the best reason for me to ask, but it's what I have at the moment." Harry continued to hold out the small statue.

With a shrug, Flitwick took the stone object and tossed it through the Veil where it disappeared. "Anything else you have planned?"

"No, Professor, at least not for tonight. I told my girlfriend I'd be back soon so I think we should leave. Beyond this, I just want to get back to being Harry and have a normal live," he confessed.

"That's certainly understandable."

"By the way, when's your birthday?" Harry asked as they left the room.

The Disillusioned Flitwick laughed quietly. "Ah, now I understand. I was born in October, so I don't believe that matches the Prophecy."

"No it doesn't," Harry said with a smile.

"However, I only assisted; you defeated him."

"You got rid of him permanently, that's what counts in my book," Harry said with his smile growing as he held his laughter inside.

They left the Ministry just before the first of several smoky apparitions were pulled screaming into the Ministry. The sleeping guard woke as the last one entered the Ministry and sped by him, causing him to hit the alarm. The few Aurors who responded found nothing amiss because by the time they had responded, the soul fragments had already disappeared through the Veil of Death to complete the soul.

— — —

Back at Hogwarts, Harry was greeted with cheering by everyone and a passionate hug and kiss from Susan. It took a while for all the well-wishers to thank him for what he'd done to protect them. Susan stayed with him the whole time.

McGonagall was able to take them to the side, eventually, for a private conversation. "Mr Potter, I thought you should know that Alastor Moody and Remus Lupin witnessed the fight." At his alarmed reaction, she hastily added, "I've sworn them to secrecy."

He relaxed and then gave her a hug to surprise her. "Thank you, Professor!"

"Mr Potter," she admonished him, although with no real force to her objection.

Harry grinned at her. "I had to do that at least once, but thank you for looking out for me."

"You're welcome," she said in her usual manner.

"Oh, a small favor if you would. When Dumbledore's portrait wakes, please inform him that the person who ended Voldemort's life was born in October. I think he'll enjoy that."

She looked at him for a moment before actually smirking. "I believe I'll enjoy it more, but I shall do so. Have a good evening. I'm _sure_ that I and the other Professors will be quite busy _all evening_."

Harry looked at Susan as their Headmistress walked away and asked, "What did she mean?"

Susan's parents were coming over, so she only said, "I'll explain later."

— — —

When the impromptu party finally ended, Harry made his way back to his room; Susan was still with him and holding his hand.

"Uh, Susan, you need to go to your room so we don't get into trouble," he told her as they passed the corridor to the Hufflepuff dorms.

She just smiled at him as she kept walking with him. "Actually I don't, not tonight."

"Why not?"

"Because McGonagall said so."

"Again, why?"

"I would assume because she noticed that I haven't let you go since you returned. Or maybe this is her reward for your efforts. Or maybe she just felt like being nice and breaking the rules for one night." Susan shrugged. "Doesn't really matter why. It only matters that I'll be able to ensure myself that you're really all right and safe. As the professor said, they'll be busy _all night_."

A few minutes later, Harry was again in bed with his girlfriend, again with nightclothes. He decided there was now little reason to delay asking her to marry him other than his nerves, and then maybe the nightclothes could go away.

* * *

 **Epilogue - The Aftermath**

Harry woke the next morning to find Susan laying on him, one leg hooked over his, an arm across his chest, her hair down and around her face as well as his, staring at him with a relaxed look. He just had to smile contentedly.

"What?" she asked.

"You look so sexy like that."

"Me? Sexy?" she squeaked.

"Yes," he replied firmly. "I'm really lucky you said yes to being my girlfriend."

"Oh? That's not how I remember it. I remember a shy Gryffindor boy being asked by a brave Hufflepuff girl," she said teasingly.

"Whatever," Harry said good-naturedly before kissing her. "I suppose we have to get up."

"Sadly." She paused and looked at him for a moment. "You do know that you have to ask the next major question, and that you need to talk to my father first, right?"

"Is that what you really want, to be stuck with me?" he teased her, but she didn't laugh.

"Harry, I'm serious."

"I am too," he said as the smile disappeared from his face and he looked at her. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I know you've said that you're fine with us being together, I still want to know that you don't have any doubts."

"I would think my coming here with you last night and that I'm still here this morning answers that. I wouldn't do this for anyone I wasn't completely serious about."

Harry struggled to lay still and not do more to this beautiful girl in his bed … it was a difficult battle.

"I love you, Susan."

"And I love you, Harry."

A banging on their door interrupted their kiss before a muffled voice shouted, "Hey you two, stop doing whatever you're doing and get out of there before you're found out!"

Susan broke the kiss with a giggle. "If she was a better friend she wouldn't have done that." Still, she rolled out of bed and grabbed her clothes. "I'll take the bathroom and you can assure her we're up."

Harry shook his head as he put his dressing gown on. Answering the door, he saw a worried looking Hannah there, as well as a smiling Neville in the background. "Yes, yes, I'm up and I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Susan better be as well and before any Professors come looking. I saw the way you two were hanging onto each other last night and knew she wasn't going to be letting you go anytime soon," Hannah told him.

"Be out soon," was all Harry said before he closed the door, smiling to himself as he thought of his girlfriend. The only real downside was that he knew he had to plan something special for her and he hadn't a clue as to what that would be.

— — —

As the four walked into the Great Hall, they found a loud and happy group. One glance at the newspaper explained it. There was a photo of Harry and the proclamation of "You-Know-Who Gone Forever".

Classes were cancelled for the day as the families would start leaving for their homes and many good-byes would be said.

Susan jumped up when her parents came over and gave them a hug. Harry stood and gave them a hug also. "Thanks for coming and bringing so much help, though I'm glad we didn't need it," he told Vince. He couldn't help but notice Vince giving him a pointed look as Susan was talking to Pat. He understood the silent question and softly said, "Soon".

Vince gave a nod and said, "You're welcome and I'm glad you didn't need us either." He started the medical team, along with Neville's parents, moving to return to St Mungo's.

Harry then sought out Professor McGonagall, who he found talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Professor, Kingsley. May I interrupt and ask a few questions, since I believe one of you should know the answers."

"Of course." "Certainly." Both had answered at once.

"Considering the recent Minister of Magic's behavior, Pius Thicknesse I believe," Harry started, "is it safe for me to assume he will be replaced?"

"Yes, I believe that's a safe assumption," Shacklebolt answered. "While I'm quite sure he really was under the Imperius Curse, he'll still have to resign; the political baggage will be too great for him to stay."

"Excellent." Harry felt a little better, but there was still so much more to do. "Do either of you know who is likely to be the next Minister?"

The two traded look, but it was Shacklebolt who answered again. "I plan to run for that position and I don't believe I will have any serious competition."

"Ah," Harry said with a slight smile, "you've saved me the effort of having to find you then. There are a few things I'd like to know. First, will all the laws from the last … oh, three years be examined and possibly thrown out. That was about when Voldemort returned to the country and started manipulating the Ministry through Malfoy and Fudge. I'd like to see everything for the six months tossed for certain." He saw Shacklebolt give McGonagall a surprised look, which she just smiled ever so slightly at.

"Yes," Shacklebolt said after a moment of hesitation. "The laws from the last six months will probably be summarily rescinded and we'll give a hard look at those from before."

"Very good," Harry told him. Not quite a definitive as he would have liked, but it would have to do for now. "Second, is it safe to assume that anyone who supported Voldemort and especially his Death Eaters will be questioned with Veritaserum to ensure no one escapes justice for what they've done to our country?"

"There are only two known survivors, but yes, Harry; that is a very safe assumption," Shacklebolt assured him. "I have no more desire to have to fight them again later than you do."

"I appreciate that, Kingsley." Harry looked him right in the eyes. "Lastly, we need to get rid of the root problem and that's the bigotry of the Pureblood movement. What do you plan to do about that?"

Shacklebolt now looked a little uncomfortable. "Harry, we can't control what people think."

"I'm not asking for that, but I do believe there are things that can be done," Harry pressed.

"If I may?" McGonagall spoke up. "While the changes at Hogwarts have been small over the last year, I plan to increase teacher involvement to help prevent the bigotry you speak of here at the school. I will no longer tolerate terms like 'Mudblood' being used here. Bullying will become a suspending offense, and possibly even an expellable offense. Also, the Wizarding Studies class that Mr Longbottom taught for Gryffindor last year will become an official school-wide class taught by his grandmother. Muggle Studies will also be brought up to date. I'm sure other changes will be implemented over the next few years."

Harry nodded. "Excellent news, Professor." He looked at Shacklebolt. "That's the sort of thing I'm asking about."

"I'm afraid I haven't given that topic much thought," the future Minister replied, "however, I am open to suggestions."

"Honestly," Harry answered, "I haven't given it much thought either, but there are a few obvious actions to consider. Start hiring and promoting more non-Purebloods. In fact, why not try to make the number of employees match what's in society? I don't know what the numbers are, but let's assume that each category is one-third of the population. That would mean about one third would be Muggle-born, one-third Half-blood, and one-third Pureblood … all approximately."

"We could aim for that," Shacklebolt acknowledged, "but that would also put a focus on people's ancestry, which we need to stop doing."

"I agree it would be good only for the short term and we should drop that after a time," Harry conceded, "but I'd like to hope it would lead us to the point that one day we no longer care what your parents were; only how good you can do the job."

"I'd like to see that as well."

"As another idea and I know this would be harder, change the Wizengamot so that at least half of the seats aren't hereditary and are filled by some sort of general election. Perhaps do that for the seats of those families where the head of the family was just found to be a Death Eater. That would be a punishment for them and a correction for the government," Harry suggested.

"That would be much harder," Shacklebolt said, "but I can see your point. I'll consider that and other ways. Perhaps you and your friends could consider it also and send me your suggestions?"

"We'd be glad to help in that way," Harry smiled and held out his hand. "Thank you, Kingsley."

"My pleasure, Harry," he said as he shook Harry's hand, "and thank you very much for your willingness to fight Riddle".

"Professor," Harry said with a nod and then returned to his friends.

"What was that about?" Neville asked him; his other friends look curious also.

"Just trying to help get everything back on track and trying to prevent the next war," Harry answered. "Or so I can hope."

* * *

Harry looked over the crowd in the Great Hall and felt very good about what he saw. Discounting the first couple weeks of the year, this was how he thought school should have been every year.

Susan walked up and put her arm around his waist. "Ready?"

"I am." He held up his arm and waved at the Headmistress, who acknowledged him with a nod. Permission given, he led Susan out.

"I'm a little surprised that she's letting us leave the school during the Halloween Feast, but I guess that's because you ended the war," Susan told him. "I'm also surprised she's letting me leave since she hasn't done that before."

"Possibly," he replied. "It might also be just because I asked her very nicely and we're both adults." Harry purposefully left out the real reason that McGonagall had forced out of him; but once heard, the old teacher quickly gave her blessing for his outing. "I'm also due to go check on the house and McGonagall did promise me I could do this on weekends and it is Friday evening."

"I can hardly wait to see it," she said excitedly.

Soon they passed through the front gates and Harry Apparated them to an area behind the house. The low sun brilliantly lit the large multi-colored tent.

"Wow! I didn't expect that," she said, her first time to visit since construction started. "Why the tent?"

"It's to hide the work, since they are using magic to build it. If any Muggle were to see them building it, it would be hard to explain stone blocks levitating, not to mention the house-elf they have as a helper," he explained. "Don't let go of my hand until after we're inside or you won't be able to go through the temporary wards that are installed."

"Look," she cried as they walked inside, "they've finished the first floor and are starting with the second."

"At least on this side," he said with a grin, "we do need to walk around it to see it all. Mr Diggle said they were slightly ahead of schedule since I allowed Dobby to come help out as an assistant too. See, the ground floor isn't quite finished here on the front," Harry said as they reached the other side. "Still, it does look like good progress. Let's go inside."

"I like it," she told him, her excitement not diminishing. "It's becoming easier to visualize the final result."

Harry led her into what would be the family room. The room was empty except for the large fireplace and a table with two chairs. The table held flowers, two candles, and place settings for two.

Susan gave him an appreciative and coy look. "I'd wondered if you'd arrange dinner here. You've scored some good romantic points."

"Thank you, I've had an excellent teacher," he teased her as he helped her into her seat before taking his own.

"You've been a good student," she teased back. "What about the future?" she asked, her coy look returning.

Dinner suddenly appeared. "Thank you, Dobby," Harry said in a normal voice before they each started to eat. "I'm very happy with many things right now, which should make for a good future. School is going well, much like I thought it always should be, at least after the first two weeks. I'm also very appreciative of no adventures this year, again ignoring the first two weeks."

"Yes, that is good," Susan agreed. "However, aren't all of your Runes classes an adventure? I don't know how you can take three of them."

Harry chuckled. "You know I'm only attending the sixth and seventh year classes; I don't have to do the homework or exams. I just want to be exposed to the knowledge while I can. Professor Babbling has been very good about it."

"I know, but I still find it amazing," she told him. "What else are you happy with?"

"Professor McGonagall has made some good reforms and I like the new class by Madam Longbottom on Wizarding Studies. It's a good continuation of what Neville started last year."

"I agree," she said. "I also think having a real teacher for History of Magic will be good for the school."

"Definitely," he said with a nod. "I really appreciate Bill helping me remove the Black Family book of magic from the old house so I can sell it soon."

"I won't miss _that_ house," she agreed with a tone that expressed her dislike for it very plainly.

"Then at the Ministry," he continued, "I'm mostly happy with the work Kingsley is doing there. The clean up he's started is going well, even if it has been going slower than I'd like. He's also changed the hiring policies so that Purebloods don't automatically get jobs. That will have a positive affect."

"Auntie would have loved to see those changes," Susan said wistfully. "I can remember multiple times where she'd tell me - confidentially of course - how frustrating it was to have to take new Aurors just because of who their father was and not because they were actually good."

Harry reached over and clasped her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "There's progress and I'm sure it'll get better still." He really did believe that.

"I'm also happy to see that Hermione has started to date again, even if she is dating a Hufflepuff," he teased her with the last part.

"Hey, it's worked well for you," she retorted good-naturedly, going along with his humor.

"It has," he agreed with a smile. "Ginny is also dating, though a Ravenclaw now, and Ron's doing well despite having to repeat sixth year. All of our friends are doing well, yours too." She nodded her agreement.

Noticing that she had finished her dinner, as he had, he knew the moment had come. He had butterflies in his stomach from his nervousness, but he also knew he had to do this.

Looking at his girlfriend, he saw her look at him in curiosity. Her blue eyes held their usual mirth that accompanied her relaxed smile; her hair was pulled back in its usual pony-tail; she was "just Susan", and yet she was utterly amazing. "There is one more thing I'm happy about, actually, more than happy.

"Susan, you've walked everywhere in this house and we've designed it together; I'd like us to be here, together, forever.

"Marry me, Susan Amelia Bones?

Susan's eyes went wide and she seemed to start to hyperventilate, but she still managed reach out to him as she nodded. "Yes," she squeaked, "oh yes I will."

"Dobby has a selection of rings from the vault - if you don't see anything you like, we can have something made."

She hugged him fiercely and he reveled in the feel of her against him and her sweet smell. "I love you, Susan."

She kissed him hard for a long moment before she broke it off and said, "And I love you, Harry Potter; I love you so much." Pulling her wand out, she surprised him by flicking it at her chair to move it over, then a transfiguration to turn it into a sofa. "Come," she told him as she pulled him over and sat on his lap.

An hour later, they still hadn't had dessert and Harry felt he now had a new Patronus-worthy memory. This Halloween, nothing bad had happened and he hoped every Halloween was this happy.

They also had just enough time to get back to school before the deadline McGonagall had given him. While he had planned to go to her parents' house tonight to tell them about the engagement, now that would have to wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Harry and Susan landed in front of his house and looked at it. "I like it. Dobby's work on landscaping is simply amazing," Harry commented as he continued to look it over, the first time ever without the tent being over it.

Susan squeezed his arm and sighed contentedly. "I like it all too, but there's so much work to do on the inside."

He chuckled as he started walking them forward. "There is all summer for that, my love."

Inside the front door, Jonathan Diggle greeted them. "Welcome to your new home, Mr Potter. I'm sure I'm a bit biased, but you have a lovely and well-built home."

"I like what I've seen on previous inspections; perhaps you could give us the final tour?" Harry suggest.

"My pleasure." Diggle showed them the entire house pointing out every feature.

When then reached the front door again, Dobby was guarding three crates, the last of the Black gold that hadn't been in Gringotts. Harry had brought it over on his last trip and stored it in the house Vault, which Dobby could access now.

"Here's your final payment, Mr Diggle."

"I appreciate your business. If you have further building needs, I hope you'll give me a call." Diggle called his house-elf, who started taking the crates of gold back to the office. "As I'm turning the house over to you, that means I will be taking the temporary wards down. Are you ready to bring yours up? I haven't seen a ward stone other than mine."

"I am ready," Harry said with a bit of pride. "They're hidden with family magic and have been charging since the first of the year and now merely need to be activated."

"Again, thank for your business." Diggle walked out as his elf took the last crate away.

Harry locked the front door after the man and then walked to a large closet that held the secret entrance to the basement and family Vault. Opening it, he walked down and then made his way to the ward room. "Dobby, is Mr Diggle off of the property?"

"Yes, Master Harry," the elf answered from the stairs. "He has taken his big magic stone with him also."

Harry touched his wand to the ward stone and brought the estate wards to life. He'd swear he could feel the magic in the air. Satisfied, he left the ward stone and found the main room of the Vault already a little easier to walk through.

Upstairs, a few pieces of furniture and paintings were already in place and Susan was directing Dobby where to place each piece as he brought it up. "It all doesn't have to be done today," he teased her.

"No, it doesn't, but I'd like it all done before I move in in August, and that's only four months away," she replied as she directed Dobby where to place the next chair.

Harry couldn't help but smile as he thought about being married in four months. "True, but we have another six weeks of Hogwarts, my love."

She gave him a 'get real' look. "Harry, we have so much to do. Besides getting the house ready, we have our wedding, you have your new job as an apprentice to Bill Weasley for a year, and yes, our NEWTs too. That doesn't count the myriad of other details."

It also didn't count the time they needed to look through all the memories Dumbledore had given him, which he still hadn't worked up the motivation to look at.

"All in good time," he told her as he wrapped his arms around her and being very pleased with life lately and going forward. "All in good time."

* * *

(A/N: I hope everyone who's stuck around has enjoyed this story. It was fun to write and a bit unusual as most Susan stories contain her Aunt Amelia as a major character and this one doesn't.

To be honest, I didn't come up with the idea of throwing Riddle through the Veil and having it also force the rest of the pieces to follow in order to end it all. I had forgotten where I read it, so thanks to Fenerath for pointing out it's "Public Safety" by Yunaine.

BTW, if I was too subtle, the Horcrux in Harry was removed by the possession in the battle of the DoM. The clues are in chapter 1. That removal was what unlocked the power in Harry.

Again, a huge thanks to Kokopelli for helping with epic, incredibly awesome (his adjectives :) beta'ing for the story, not only for his spelling and grammar corrections, but his suggestions too.

I also want to thank alix33 for her unofficial help with typos. I didn't ask her to help, but she's faithfully given me a review for every chapter with little things that I've overlooked.

Not sure when the next story will come out. I've promised Kokopelli some of my time, not to mention that I don't have a lot of time to write anyway. As usual, put/keep the Author Alerts on. You can also see what's going on with me by looking at my bio on this site; I do try to update the status there from time-to-time. - Kevin)


End file.
